Home
by Eh Bien
Summary: Two years after Breaking Dawn. As Bella prepares to move from Forks with the Cullens, she continues to adapt to her vampire life and develop relationships within the family. Canon.
1. Round Table

I was the only member of the family who had never gone through a move - what Carlisle referred to as a relocation and Alice called a 'hop' - and I felt a little bit useless. The interior of the big white house was dissolving around me, rapidly being collapsed into boxes and carried out the door to the gigantic rented moving van parked outside. My new speed and strength let me keep up with the others easily, whether working or playing, but the Cullens had relocating down to an art, and I was too unfamiliar with the rather precise routine to be as much help as I'd have liked. I couldn't even pack my own clothes; Alice had insisted on doing that herself, fearing I might deliberately leave some of her selections behind.

I'd become concerned, before now, that I wasn't pulling my weight in the household. In a home which required virtually no cooking or dishwashing, where individuals took care of their own laundry, and a full-blown spring cleaning could be accomplished in under an hour, I was left with no significant chores. I'd asked Edward about it once, and he'd merely told me not to worry. Rosalie, overhearing, had laughed and said, "For heaven's sake, Bella! Most of us devoted at least the first year just to coping with the change. You're a newborn, a newlywed, _and_ a new mother, all at once! You have enough on your plate. Stop agonizing, will you?"

I wasn't sure I was even officially a newborn any more. My eyes had already changed colour some time ago. Either way, I felt I should participate in the transfer to a new house a bit more actively. I brought the matter up to Alice when the packing process began.

"Leave the lion's share to us for now. You'll pick up the details and be ready for next time," Alice assured me. "Just pay attention at the meetings, and watch what we do. Anyway, this will be an easy hop."

"Easy, why?"

"Lots of time, for one thing."

Emmett, passing through the kitchen effortlessly carrying a crate twice his size, overheard. "Yeah, we've had some moves we had to accomplish overnight. Everything packed up, new ID's in place, and all of us gone before the locals knew what had happened."

"Why so fast?"

"Usually because somebody slipped up." Emmett continued out the back door with his burden. "Twice it was because of me."

"Slipped up," I repeated. It seemed like such a casual way to refer to a violent death.

"It happens." Alice sounded so bleak, I looked at her in surprise. It was difficult to quench her usual lighthearted outlook. "Two sudden moves for Emmett, once for Jazz - twice, if you count the time he came at _you_ - and a big one for Rosalie." Yes, a series of grisly murders by a ghost in a wedding gown could definitely have drawn unwanted attention. "Once for Esme, a long time ago." She sighed. "But I hope that's all behind us. It looks like _you're_ not going to give us any of the problems we were prepared for."

"_Way_ too tame for a newborn!" Emmett muttered as he passed rapidly back through the kitchen.

"It's a relief," I told Alice. "I was terrified of losing control and attacking someone."

"I know!" She grinned happily at me. "Everyone's so impressed with you! Carlisle's still trying to figure out the reason." I shrugged, a little uncomfortable being a scientific curiosity. "Anyway. The other reason this move is so easy is no ID change is called for."

"Have you ever done that before?"

"Nope. This kind of situation is new to the family."

Jasper looked into the room. "Carlisle asked if everybody could come in for a short meeting." He spoke with a slight Texas drawl, something that was only heard when the family was alone together.

It was a peculiar aspect of the Cullens' passing for a human family: they adopted a common accent in public. At home, they often let their native speech come out, like slipping into an old bathrobe. While Edward, Esme and Rosalie spoke with the midwestern accent I thought of as 'normal American' English, with slight variations according to their time of birth, Jasper had the accent and grammatic oddities of his native nineteenth century Texas. Emmett, in the privacy of the family, allowed his backwoods accent to emerge, and Alice, whose speech was almost as 'normal' as Esme's, did let a trace of Southern belle creep in occasionally. Most interesting of all was Carlisle. His 'at home' accent originated in England, of course, but the dialects of seventeenth century London were not those of today. Carlisle's native speech was a mixture of BBC newscaster, Amish farmer, and native of Boston, Massachusetts, with his standard American accent superimposed over it through constant use. He occasionally lapsed into the use of _thee_ and _thou_, especially when talking to Esme, which I thought was kind of cool.

I sometimes wondered how I would manage, if the family were to move abroad, and I had to fake a foreign accent. It could happen.

We hurried to the so-called dining room, where the others were taking their places at the big mahogany table. I sat down next to Edward, who took my hand immediately, and smiled over at Jacob, who was on the floor in the corner, playing some game with Nessie. Jake was not there by chance. Because he could not reasonably be kept away from wherever Nessie was, he had to be factored in when deciding the family's whereabouts; yet he was not quite one of us. The unspoken arrangement was that he would be kept in the loop whenever we were deciding things that indirectly concerned him, like in relocation meetings, but his involvement would be minimal. He would be taken into account, would know when and where we were moving, and would have accommodations prepared for him, but where and how the family lived would be our decision alone. However politely the Cullens dealt with him, he could be no more than camp follower. It could not have been an easy situation for Jacob, and I felt for him, but even Carlisle and kind-hearted Esme agreed that the family's interests had to be the first priority, and that Jacob would have to fit himself into our plans as best he could.

_Our_ plans. It was strange how clearly I now saw myself as a Cullen, and Jacob as an outsider. He was my best friend, but he was not _us_.

The quiet, jovial chatter slowed to a stop as Carlisle took his place at the table. Family meetings had given me a clearer idea of the subtle hierarchy within the Cullen family. It was nothing like the simple oldest-member-in-charge kind of system I had once imagined. Carlisle was accepted, happily and unquestioningly, as leader, but it was a leadership that claimed almost no real power. Carlisle was leader by unanimous, unspoken agreement, not only because of his age and wisdom, but because no one in the family could imagine anybody better qualified. They all looked up to him, relied on him, and trusted his judgment. Most of all, they loved him, and knew that he cared for each of them like a father. Carlisle did not exert his authority where it was not wanted; he would probably never need to.

"I won't keep you long," Carlisle began. "I just wanted to go over the plans once more, for this relocation and the subsequent one, and make certain there is no confusion."

I was surprised. Subsequent? I hadn't heard about that. Did they think several places ahead, like in a chess game?

Jasper saw, or possibly felt, my surprise. "The move after this one was planned some time ago."

Carlisle looked at me. "Bella, this was decided before you were with us. From now on, of course, you'll have some input into these decisions."

I nodded. "That's fine. I didn't mean to interrupt."

"It's not an interruption," Esme smiled at me, "it's part of the meeting. We have two locations more or less in place."

"Thanks so much," I interjected, "but you don't need to go through all this just for me."

Rose sighed. "We do, though. Every family member has to be familiar with the setup. So stop being so damn self-effacing."

Edward shot her an annoyed look, but the others laughed. "It's true, Bella," Carlisle told me. "You need to be brought up to speed."

"We have two locations," Esme continued. "First, a house near Buffalo, which we could move into on very short notice."

"That's our back-up plan," Jasper explained. "We try to always have somewhere to go in case we need to move suddenly. We also have a set of papers to go along with the Buffalo residence, just in case. In an emergency, you would become Marlene Bitterman, 17 year old foster child of Carl and Elsa Coleman." He nodded at Carlisle and Esme, the 'Colemans.'

"Marlene?" I made a face.

"You get to pick a name next time," Edward assured me.

I was glad I happened to meet Edward and his family at a time when their cover story included using all their real first names, something they hadn't done for quite a few years. The name 'Edward' had become imprinted on the pleasure centres of my brain early on. It would be strange to have known Edward as 'Gary' or something, and later find his real name was Edward. I would always be known as Bella at home, but at some point I would have to choose a different name for public use. As Jasper had pointed out, Isabella and Edward were unusual names, and we didn't want to be easy to trace.

I used a tiny part of my mind to run through every girl's name I knew, and pick out a few favourites for the next time Jasper had to make up fake documents.

Jasper, along with being the Cullens' uniquely qualified _de facto_ head of security, was in charge of what he modestly called paperwork, a chore which comprehended a great deal in the Cullen household. He took care of identification papers, passports and the like, multiple sets for each family member, along with providing the necessary trail of school attendance records, financial records, medical and employment history for each new 'cover story' the family adopted. It was an incredibly complicated task, even with occasional help from people like our friend, J. Jenks.

"The other location," Esme went on, "is a house in rural Maine, scheduled for completion within three years. Barring any emergencies, we plan to move there after we leave New Hampshire." She opened a folder in front of her on the table and took out several pages. "We own 85 acres, mostly wooded, directly bordering a state park." She showed me a series of photographs of the property.

"It's beautiful!" I exclaimed.

"I thought it was." Esme's dimple appeared. "Also secluded. And these are the house plans."

I looked at them quickly. "Plenty of room," I ventured. The house was even larger than the present one in Forks, and included an adjacent guest house, presumably for Jacob.

"Our family's expanded a little," she replied, glancing over at Nessie and Jacob. "Of course, we have several additional properties around the continent, but they're not quite livable yet. Those are for future moves yet to be decided."

I had once underestimated Esme's contribution to the family, as much as I adored her and saw how she added to everyone's happiness. I knew she took care of decorating and maintaining the Cullen home, and had a vague idea that she also planned and oversaw renovations. She had, after all, rebuilt the little stone cottage for Edward and me, after what Alice called my 'makeover.' But Esme was so unassuming and motherly, I had unconsciously categorized her as, essentially, a housewife. In fact, she had a graduate degree in architecture, personally designed or restored most of the homes the Cullens had lived in, and added unique security features to the blueprints without builders recognizing them for what they were. In addition, she located and prepared suitable residences two or three moves in advance. She also furnished and decorated each home, and made sure all the 'human' details were in place. Much of the Cullens' pleasant lifestyle depended on Esme.

Rosalie helped with renovations sometimes. Rosalie, I had learned, was talented not only at revamping engines. She had installed the hidden metal shutters Esme had designed for the house, along with a host of security devices, had contrived some of Jasper's home forgery equipment, and was adept at finding ways to bypass police radar, metal detectors, and other inconveniences.

Emmett turned to Esme. "You're using the Bower account for the Maine house, right? Let me know if it's going to need more funds."

She shook her head. "I started with just over twelve million, and the whole project won't take much more than half that."

I was gradually getting used to the financial realities of being a Cullen. Twelve million, I now recognized, was a drop in the bucket. Emmett, who was content to be seen as nothing but a big, tough, good-natured oaf, turned out to have a remarkable head for figures, even by vampire standards. He handled the family's finances, which was only slightly less intricate than administering all the branches of a major multi-national corporation single handedly. I once asked him if he enjoyed managing the Cullen fortune. "It's fun!" was his characteristic reply. "And I like doing something I'm good at. When Rosie found me, I was an ignorant hillbilly. Seriously, I could only read at the third grade level. I was better at arithmetic, though, and after I was changed I got _really_ good at it. The money stuff is easy. People are tricky, but numbers always make sense."

"So," Carlisle said, "if I may summarize, the plan is to move to New Hampshire using our current identities. The cover story is a simple continuation of our present one: Edward and Bella are going to Dartmouth. That allows Bella to maintain contact with her parents in her real persona." I was familiar with that much of the plan, at least. I also knew Edward and I would be living in the smaller house Edward had once purchased close to the Dartmouth campus. I was pleased; as much as I loved my new family, I wasn't ready to go out of honeymoon mode just yet. "The rest of you are attending classes elsewhere. Esme is at home with the newest child, I have a position at a community hospital. Any issues with that part of the story?"

Renesmee was this 'newest child,' supposedly adopted by Carlisle and Esme. Her cover story for the next few years included being homeschooled, which was basically true - her education was an ongoing group effort we all enjoyed. We'd thought about sending her to primary school in New Hampshire, but Alice had had visions of severe complications and a possible emergency move if Nessie attended school at that point.

"So she'll be Carlisle and Esme's daughter for the next four years," I mused. It was the arrangement we'd agreed on, but it still felt a little strange.

Edward squeezed my hand. "Only for appearances' sake. It's simply easier to explain."

"And nobody in Forks, other than Charlie and the Quileutes, knows she exists, so there's no continuity problem," Jasper added. "Her documents make her a little older than she looks now. We'll have moved on by the time she outgrows her cover story."

Carlisle looked at me. "You know, Renesmee's cover story can _never_ include being your daughter. By our next move, she will appear far too old."

"I know."

Nessie, who had been listening quietly, jumped to her feet and ran over to me. Placing both hands on my forearm, she sent me a rather fervent message.

"What is she saying?" Rose asked.

Edward chuckled. "Just telling us, very emphatically, that she _is_ our daughter and _will_ always be our daughter no matter what the humans think."

"I know, sweetheart." I kissed her, and she ran back to play with Jacob.

"If we're doing a continuation of our current cover story," Jasper said, "even in a new place, we have to make a point of looking older. Especially you and Esme."

"Fair enough. Esme, I'm sure Alice can find ways to age you convincingly?" Carlisle looked over at Alice.

"No problem at all," Alice agreed. "I can make her pass for mid thirties."

I had more respect for Alice than ever. Her contribution as sentry to the future was invaluable to the family. Her talent for fashion, which I'd dismissed as a hobby, was almost as valuable in keeping the cover story plausible. She was incredibly adept at using outward appearance to provide whatever effect was desired. Alice was a big part of the Cullens always appearing to be what they claimed.

"What about Carlisle?" Rosalie asked. "Could we give him some grey at the temples?"

"Eyeglasses?" I suggested.

"Sure, that would help. And he can start wearing argyle sweaters."

"He's supposed to be a doctor in his thirties," Alice objected, "not some old coot in a rest home!"

" 'You are old, Father William'," Edward began to recite, and everyone laughed.

"We can work out the exact details later," Carlisle told Alice.

Jasper turned to me. "The current plan is less flexible than previous ones: just four years in New Hampshire, enough time to complete an undergraduate degree. We don't normally keep the same cover story this long, but we all wanted to ease the transition for your father. After that, we'll really have to move on to a new location and new identities. The place in Maine is being set up for that purpose."

"You realize," Carlisle said to me, "you won't be able to tell Charlie where you are, or under what name, once we leave New Hampshire. The same goes for your mother, if you are staying in touch with her." I nodded. Edward had explained earlier. "You can maintain a link through email, and even keep a cell phone number if you like, but they can't know where we are."

"I understand." They were going to great lengths to let me retain some kind of contact with Charlie and Renee.

"Incidentally," Rose added, "the Maine house is close to one of the best private day schools in the country. Nessie should be ready for high school around that time. It's up to Bella and Edward, of course, but it might be ideal for her."

Alice zoned out briefly. "That looks extremely good. She'll love the school, and no problems immediately apparent. _And_," she added with great satisfaction, "they don't use a school uniform!"

I looked back at Nessie, twenty-two months old but looking like a primary school student. She was growing up so fast! Every parent said that, but in my case it was especially true.

Esme noticed where I was looking. "Are you taking her to see your father tomorrow?"

"That's the plan. I thought I should let them spend some time together before we go." Nessie and Charlie adored each other still.

I noticed Jasper frowning in my direction. "You know, Charlie was prepared to have you leave for college some time ago. And he has Sue with him now, and Seth. He's not going to be lonely."

"Of course he's not," I said in surprise.

"But you feel you're to blame for leaving him?"

Every eye turned toward me. "Not at all! I mean, I guess I'm a little sorry to say goodbye, but not actually upset about it."

"Then why are you feeling so guilty?" He realized he was divulging more than I would have liked. I still wasn't used to hanging around with a talking mood barometer. "Sorry, but it was so distinct. I thought it had to do with your father."

"Is something about the move giving you trouble, Bella?" Esme asked.

"No! Just the opposite." I grimaced. As Edward had once told me, there were no secrets in this family. "Everyone's bending over backwards to make sure I can still talk to my parents, that Charlie doesn't have any sudden changes to deal with. Extra time in Forks, helping keep Nessie hidden from the rest of the town. Even extending the old cover story beyond what you'd usually consider." I looked down. "All this trouble when, sorry to bring it up, but none of _you_ ever got to keep in contact with your human families. It doesn't seem fair."

There was a brief pause, then Rosalie murmured, "Oh, brother!"

Edward gave her an icy look. "Excuse me?"

She ignored him. "Bella, this is the same thing as your issue with accepting presents, and you need to get over it. Haven't you noticed the way things work in this family? This weird little fraternity is all any of us really have, all we can completely count on, and we take damn good care of each other. One of us slips up, the rest cover for him, pack up and leave, just like that. One of us has a problem, it's everybody's problem. You know, we once set up a major fashion design house for Alice under a fake name, because we thought she'd enjoy it. Esme built Emmett and me a honeymoon house based on the Parthenon, just to be nice! We all try to make each other as happy as we possibly can. Not because we have to, but because we _like_ to! They even do it for me, and everyone knows _I'm_ a raving bitch!" Emmett guffawed appreciatively. "This is your family now, and they _want_ to be nice to you and help you, so please try and get used to the idea."

Jasper had taken on the manner I thought of as Phasers On Stun: not precisely nervous, but alert to the emotions in the room, and prepared to alter them if it became necessary. It was unlikely he would need to. We all knew Rosalie too well to be startled by this little spiel. I turned to look at Carlisle; he was watching Rose affectionately, smiling in mild amusement. He turned back to me. "While I would not have expressed it in quite the same way, Bella, I have to agree with Rosalie."

Esme nodded. "Bella, dear, none of us were really _able_ to stay in contact with our families. It's possible for you, and it would be just...tragic, really, if you didn't take advantage of that opportunity while you can. None of us consider it trouble. Naturally, we want you and Nessie to take advantage of a piece of good fortune, and it's a privilege to be able to help you do it. Don't be uneasy about this, Bella, please!"

I nodded, swallowing nervously. "Okay," I murmured. "Thanks." I met Rosalie's eyes briefly.

"Any further business?" Carlisle asked.

Nessie ran to him. "Yes, poppet?" She placed her hand in his, looking up at him expectantly. "Ah! Esme, she wants to know what her new home will look like."

Smiling, Esme opened a second folder and held out photographs for Nessie to see.

"I'll want to start the paperwork for Maine soon," Jasper said, "and I'd like your name choices, including all new surnames, if you would. No rush, but start mulling it over."

"Please remember not to pack any supposed daily essentials until the morning of the move," Carlisle added, "just in case we have last minute visitors. Other than that, I think we are ready to proceed."

The meeting broke up and everyone went back to work.


	2. No Secrets

"Do you have a name in mind for Maine?" I asked Edward as we left the dining room.

"I was thinking of going back to Masen. Esme and I were talking about being brother and sister again. Nothing has been decided beyond that."

"So I would be Mrs. Masen? Or do I pretend to be your younger sister?"

"Yes, you would be Mrs. Masen." He brushed my hair gently away from my face. "I think I need to sharpen my acting skills before I can convincingly play your brother."

"_Your_ acting skills are fine," Rosalie commented as she walked by carrying a cherrywood armoire. "But Bella should be majoring in drama instead of studying sciences. She's still an awful liar."

"I'm working on it," I sighed.

Edward and I were heading upstairs to sort through the belongings in his former bedroom, when he was distracted by Carlisle, on the phone with the piano movers. Not that we really needed a piano mover, but Jasper thought carrying a grand piano in and out of a house by ourselves might be conspicuous. Edward urged me to go on upstairs without him, and hurried back to oversee the matter and make sure his favourite material possession was being treated with due care.

Alice was already in the room, folding my out of season clothes into an enormous trunk with blinding speed. She'd already cleared out the closet in my little cottage out back; my entire wardrobe was in the trunk. "I left you outfits for tomorrow and the next day, back in the cottage," she told me. "The red cotton dress is for tomorrow."

"Thanks. Alice, why don't you let me do that?"

"You know I don't trust you around clothing! Besides, I had new items to add."

"_More_ new items?"

"Not many. I'm waiting until we get to Hanover to shop for your student wardrobe. But I _did_ throw in a few new pieces of lingerie." She smiled sweetly.

I said nothing. Alice certainly had an uncanny knack for choosing unmentionables for me that would appeal to Edward. Not that he needed any encouragement in _that_ department, but Alice's selections had sometimes made him resort to strong language. The garments rarely survived their first wearing, which was just fine with me. They died in a good cause.

But I wasn't going to tell Alice that, at least not right now, when the entire family could hear every word.

One of the adjustments I had to make in becoming a full-fledged Cullen was revising my concept of privacy. As a human, a private conversation was simple: you went into another room and closed the door, or even moved a few yards away from potential eavesdroppers, and your conversation was private. Such rules did not apply in a house full of vampires, who could practically hear a pin drop from anywhere in the house or yard. This changed the definition of private to include several sub-categories.

At one end of the spectrum was the genuinely private. Edward's and my honeymoon cottage, for example, was truly private because it was placed out of hearing range of the main house. This was a relief to me. We could engage in our usual honeymoon activities without worrying about being heard, and without either of us having to keep our voices down. Not to mention being able to talk openly, which also happened from time to time. Realizing we would eventually move back into the family home, we had practiced making love quietly, as I assumed the other three Cullen couples did. With vampire aptitude, it was amazingly easy to remain completely silent throughout, apart from whispers to each other that were so quiet they would not be heard by anyone else, regardless of hearing ability. This was reassuring for future purposes.

Any Cullen who wanted a truly private conversation had to place himself at a significant distance from the others.

Then there was privacy by consensus. It was a kind of unspoken agreement within the family: when something took place that was too intimate for the group at large to hear or observe, they simply..._wouldn't_ hear it or observe it. They would look away, talk of other matters, focus on something else. This arrangement was almost essential for such a large group of adults (and one child) to live comfortably in close proximity.

Most of the time, though, it was understood that all conversations in that house were public domain. We had few secrets.

I did kind of enjoy the multi-level communication that went on in the house at times. With my vast new mind, it was child's play to hold a conversation on the third floor, while listening to another discussion taking place on the second floor and two more on the first, keeping track of all of them at once, and sometimes participating in two or more at a time. To think I'd once had trouble reading while the television was on.

As I spoke to Alice in the third floor bedroom, I could hear Edward discussing piano moving in the living room, Esme talking to Jacob as she gave Nessie crackers and juice in the kitchen, and Rosalie speaking brusquely into her cell phone as she swiftly sorted and packed items in her second floor bedroom.

"Well, if I'm not allowed to pack my own clothes, I'll pack Edward's," I said, starting to pull items from dresser drawers and add them to the trunk at blinding speed. I heard Nessie, finished with her snack, giggling as Uncle Emmett sang to her. It was a kind of lullaby from his human days.

_What do we do with the baby-o?_ Emmett sang.  
><em>Every time the baby cry,<em>  
><em>Stick my finger in the baby's eye!<em>

I found the lyrics a little hostile, but they made Nessie laugh.

_Every time the baby grin,_  
><em>Feed my baby from a bottle of gin.<em>  
><em>That's what we do with the baby-o!<em>

More laughter. I found myself smiling as I worked.

"I'm glad to see you're not arguing about the upcoming shopping trip," Alice said gleefully.

"Is there any point?"

She grinned at me. "None at all."

"I still don't get it, to tell the truth. You enjoy dressing me up more than you like dressing up yourself."

"It's more fun, because I can actually put _you_ in the best fashion has to offer. _My_ clothes have to be chosen from a very narrow range, or else made at home. Designers don't typically make clothes for my body type, in case you haven't noticed. I have to live vicariously through you."

"Oh!" I hadn't considered that aspect of it. Alice was so tiny and thin, children's wear would probably fit her best.

"I just wish my mystery creator had waited another year or so to change me. I might have grown a couple of inches. Not to mention maybe developed a proper bust." She sighed, holding up one of my camisoles wistfully before packing it in the trunk.

"You don't hear any complaints from _me_." Jasper's voice drifted up from the ground floor.

"True! And that's the main thing." She winked at me. "But it _would_ be nice to be able to fill out a sweater for once."

"Aw, Alice - don't feel bad. You're so beautiful, and you know it's not only Jasper who thinks so. You look like queen of the fairies! Well," I amended, "ruthless dictator of the fairies, anyway."

Laughter could be heard from various points around the house.

"Thanks, Bella!" Alice laughed.

"You can thank me by cancelling the clothes shopping." She put her hands on her hips, giving me an exasperated look. "Honestly, Alice, I'm going to be a student. Most of them go to class in ripped jeans and tee shirts. If I'm supposed to blend in, shouldn't I be doing the same?"

"She's got you there, Alice," Emmett's laughing voice called out.

"But you're supposed to look better than the average student!" Alice protested.

Before I could respond, Jasper's voice rose through the floorboards. "Alice has a point, Bella."

"What?" I was surprised and annoyed. He'd always stayed out of our apparel wars until now.

"When you go to university, or anywhere out in public, you're not appearing as yourself, not any more. You're appearing as your cover story. It's like playing a role, and you have to wear the right costume for the part. Here in Forks, it made sense that you continued to dress the way Bella Swan always had, but that's a temporary situation. Wearing the clothes that you, the real Bella, would choose is not necessarily appropriate to your cover story."

"Well...yes, but why does my 'character' have to be a fashion plate? Why couldn't she be a slob?"

"In theory, she could; but it's usually better for all of us to look just a little more elite and polished than most, even a bit arrogant. It keeps people at a distance." I remembered the impression the Cullen 'kids' had made on most of the Forks High School students. "You don't want clothes that make you look like one of the gang, because you're not, and can't be. It may seem pretentious, but it's another thing that helps us live closely with humans."

One more thing I liked about Jasper: he always told me the truth, without sugar-coating it. He was right. I wasn't going to make friends at school; I was going to stay aloof. My friends, from now on, could come only from a few select sources. And from now on, I was Bella only with my family; everywhere else I was my alter ego. "That makes sense. Thanks, Jasper."

Alice stared at me. "Well, that was easy! So you're not going to give me trouble about your wardrobe from now on?"

"Not so fast, Alice." I heard Emmett snicker, and Nessie ask him what was funny.

"What now?"

"How about a compromise." She frowned at me. "Your first ever!" I could hear Edward laugh at that.

"What kind of compromise?"

"I'll give you free rein choosing my clothes, at least clothes I wear in public. Provided," I said, holding up a warning finger as she started to get excited, "that you stay within certain boundaries. Then you can dress me up to your heart's content, and I'll be 'in character' without feeling like a...a superhero in an adult comic book." There was snickering in the distance.

She looked at me suspiciously. "What boundaries?"

"Number one: I have to be reasonably covered up. Nothing low cut, skin tight, very short, or transparent." We'd gone through a lot of arguments on that score.

She sighed. "Honestly! You're a bigger prude than Edward!"

"Excuse me?" Edward said from downstairs.

"Take that back!" Emmett called out. "_Nobody'_s a bigger prude than Edward!"

"Alice," Esme said quietly, "Bella's just modest. She can still be stylish within those limits, can't she?"

"Oh, I suppose so," Alice conceded. "But it's a waste of a good figure. What else?"

"Nothing too showy."

"Showy? When do I ever dress you _showy_?" she said indignantly.

"You know what I mean. Avoid the glitter, drama, really avant-garde styles. _Simple_ clothes, okay?"

"Think of the Duchess of Cambridge," Rosalie suggested from one floor down. "Or the French president's wife."

"Coco Chanel," Esme suggested, her voice now seeming to come from the front yard. "Audrey Hepburn. Classics."

"Chic but understated," Rose agreed.

Alice was looking into space, mentally designing my personal fall line. "Maybe. Yes, I could work with that." She looked back at me. "Any more restrictions?"

"Just one, but it's non-negotiable. No high heels."

"Bella! That's just..."

"Absolutely non-negotiable," I said firmly.

"What do you have against high heels?"

"First of all, they're bad for you."

"They're not bad for _you_. Your feet are indestructible."

"But other women's aren't, and I don't want to set a bad example. Especially if you're going to make me a fashion icon for others to emulate."

More snickers from downstairs.

"Secondly, I just don't like them." They made me feel a little slutty, frankly, but I didn't want to get into that, since Alice and Rosalie both wore them regularly.

"They would add height," she argued, although she seemed ready to give in. "You're very short."

"I'm taller than _you_ are," I pointed out. She stuck her tongue out at me. "Do we have an agreement?"

Alice sighed deeply. "Fine. Consider it a deal." We shook hands solemnly. "Do those restrictions apply to lingerie too, by the way?"

"Um, no." General hilarity could be heard from all stations.

I'd packed Edward's clothes, Nessie's clothes, my small but select collection of jewelry, and any other odds and ends that belonged to that bedroom. I finished by folding the bedspread and sheets into the trunk, and closed the lid. "This dresser's going with us, but I assume you're leaving the bed," Alice commented. The Cullens typically left some of their furniture behind for charity pickup, and bought new items on arrival.

The bed was a gigantic expanse of mattress with a frame and canopy of delicate vines and flowers made of finely wrought metal. Edward had bought it for me to use the first time I'd slept at the Cullen house. It had grown on me a bit, but it was still the most immoderate piece of furniture I had ever seen.

"No, actually. I was hoping to put this bed in our new house in Hanover."

"This bed? It's so huge. I thought you'd want a smaller one, like the one in the cottage."

"I'm attached to this one. Edward bought it especially for me." Back when I still used a bed for sleeping.

"Oh, okay." She had a little twinkle in her eye, but said nothing more. "Help me take the frame apart." We had it dismantled and carried down the stairs and into the van in minutes. Alice went off to help Jasper pack the things in their room, while Edward, his piano's safety ensured, joined me to box up his immense music collection and stereo equipment. We carried the cartons through the rapidly emptying house.

"It feels funny to see the house like this," I commented.

Esme was lovingly wrapping the antique "dining" table in furniture pads before carting it outside. "I know. At first, I felt sad to leave places I'd been happy in. But now, I just feel like we take our home with us. It's the family that counts, not the building."

"Yes, that's true." I smiled at her. "I thought you'd feel worse about it. You put so much of yourself into this house."

"But I get a chance to do it all again with a new place." She smiled, her dimples showing. "Are you really upset about leaving?"

"No, not at all." She tilted her head and looked at me more closely, and Edward did the same, glancing over at Jasper as though asking for a polygraph report. No, there were not many secrets in this family. "It just reminded me a little bit of seeing the house empty the last time," I confessed. "After you all moved away."

Esme nodded and gave my hand a squeeze. "That was a bad time for all of us. But at least it can never happen again. Where we go, you go."

"Absolutely." Edward put an arm around my shoulders and pulled me closer a moment. I looked up at him, and my trace of gloom disappeared. "Enough. Back to work."

He grinned and helped me wrap and carry out the few paintings that were still remaining on the walls.

Less than an hour later we were finished for the day. The huge living area was filled with rolled carpets, disassembled beds, appliances and furniture which was being left behind, waiting to be picked up the next day by a local charity. It was amazing how fast a job like this went with nine paranormal beings working as a team.

Rosalie brought Nessie in from the garden. "She's hungry, and isn't too keen on human food at the moment."

Edward picked her up. "Nessie, we've talked about this. There's not enough time to hunt tonight, and you know you're going to have to eat regular food while we're driving to our new house tomorrow."

She sighed dramatically, and rested her head sadly against his shoulder. I could practically see him melt, and I caught his eye to make sure he wasn't about to concede. "Jacob's going to have dinner soon. Would you like to eat with him?" She pursed her lips thoughtfully, then raised her head and nodded.

Jacob, taking the hint, headed for the kitchen, where he microwaved frozen lasagna while I made a salad. Nessie arranged the cucumber slices on the top in a spiral design. "She's going to be an artist," Jacob told me. "She makes patterns with everything. And look at the drawings she does."

"That's what Edward thinks, too."

Encouraged by Jacob, Nessie ate a reasonable amount of dinner and even accepted a small glass of milk. She reached over and placed her hand on Jacob's forearm.

"We can hunt again after you're all moved into your new house, Ness. You'll have to stick to food until then."

She made a face, but didn't argue.

After dinner, Rosalie offered to give Nessie her bath and get her ready for bed. It was a favourite ritual of mine as well, but I tried not to be too possessive about my daughter. Rose carried Renesmee off, talking softly to her as she went. I turned back toward the kitchen, offering to help Jacob clean up.

"Should I throw out the leftovers?" he asked.

"Might as well. Nobody here's going to eat them."

He gave me a slightly evil grin. "What about you?"

"Ha!"

"Seriously. You used to love lasagna."

"_Used to_ being the key phrase."

"Have you even eaten food since...?"

"No." I looked at the remains of the lasagna. The smell wasn't horrible, but it wasn't remotely appetizing, either. I didn't like to think about putting it in my mouth; it just felt wrong.

"Maybe you should give it a try." I made a face. "Come on! Don't you have to eat sometimes, just to keep up appearances? You should get in some practice."

"Well..." I saw Emmett leaning against the doorway, watching with interest. He gave me a thumbs up sign. I got myself a fork, cut off a good sized chunk of lasagna, and looked at it, trying to recall how this went. I held my breath and stuffed it into my mouth.

The revulsion was immediate, but I began determinedly chewing away, sure it would all come back to me. It didn't. Three seconds later, I threw the fork aside and bolted for the kitchen trash can, spitting the food out as quickly as I could. "Yuck! Yuck! _Yuck_!" I could hear Emmett and Jacob howling with laughter as I ran to the sink and hastily rinsed my mouth out. "Ew! That's disgusting! Stop laughing, you morons!" They only laughed harder

I straightened up to find Edward standing in the kitchen doorway, his expression a mixture of concern and amusement. Carlisle appeared behind him and took in the scene.

"Bella tried to eat food!" Emmett told him, still chortling away.

"So I heard," Carlisle said mildly. "It can take some practice."

"Ugh!"

He grinned at me sympathetically. "Start with dry foods, in very small pieces, and gradually work your way up to things like lasagna," he advised.

"Thanks." I looked at Edward. "I'm _so_ sorry I dared you to eat pizza!"

He finally let himself laugh. "I forgive you."

"Go for a second try, Bella," Jacob urged. "Come on, that was just a practice swing."

I gave him a dirty look. "I'm throwing the rest of this away." I started clearing the counter. "And _don't_ mention this to Nessie, all right? It's hard enough getting her to eat." I cleared away the unpleasant remains and prepared to join the others, who were sitting on the floor in the now-empty dining room, reading and talking.

"Tell me what you thought of the food, Bella," Carlisle asked. I looked at him in surprise. "Not in English."

"Oh!" Language pop quiz. It came when you least expected it. "Cibus est horrendus." Jacob rolled his eyes.

"Quid ergo?"

"Alimentum mihi non placet. Odiosum est mihi." _Food doesn't please me. It disgusts me. _If that wasn't clear already.

"Cur manducare?" he asked. _Why did you eat it?_

"Um...versipellis tentaverunt me et comedi." _The werewolf tempted me, and I did eat_. I thought he'd appreciate that one.

"Optimum!" He and Edward both laughed.

"I still can't believe you picked Latin," Jacob grumbled, sitting cross legged against the dining room wall. "Why learn a language nobody speaks? It's kind of anti-social."

I'd heard nothing but complaints from Jake since I made the selection. All the Cullens knew multiple languages, and it was suggested that learning a new language would be a good pastime until Nessie was a little older and I was ready for university. I'd chosen Latin, explaining that it would be helpful to someone majoring in biology, as I intended to. Carlisle, who had been familiar with Latin since his youth, gladly coached me, and I was astonished at how easy it was to become fluent in a new language when you have perfect recall.

The tutoring had improved my relationship with Carlisle as well. I'd always liked and admired Carlisle, but while the rest of the Cullens had also been fun and easy companions, I'd been a little in awe of Carlisle. I now found that he both had a sense of humour, if a slightly dry one, and was good to talk to. To Carlisle, there was no such thing as an unworthy topic if it was approached honestly and with an inquiring mind, and he happily discussed anything from science and philosophy - kindly bringing the subject down to my level as needed - to popular culture, feminism, the ethics of infant beauty pageants, and on one memorable occasion the problematic physics behind allowing Superman to fly.

I was revelling in it all. Like Marvin the Robot, I now had a brain the size of a planet. I was enjoying my new, expanded brain almost as much as my new, faster, more graceful body. I hoped to master the various Romance languages before moving on to Greek. From there, wherever my interests took me. And studying science at Dartmouth no longer worried me in the slightest.

We all gathered in a circle, sitting on the hard floorboards but perfectly comfortable. Rosalie brought Nessie back from her bath, dressed in pyjamas and looking adorable. I took her onto my lap and stroked her damp hair as she proceeded to show me images from her day, occasionally agreeing to answer questions from the family by speaking out loud. In spite of the upheaval of the familiar house, I felt peaceful and very much at home, and I hoped my little girl felt the same.


	3. Extended Family

I turned in the direction of the front door as the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps, many of them, became audible from outside. Soon after, a distinctive scent could be perceived. "There they are!" Alice said, jumping up and hurrying to the door.

The Denali family came in as a group, and for some time the room was a jumble of mingled greetings and conversations. Nessie was admired and passed from person to person, her growth exclaimed over and her beauty and cleverness praised. She never seemed to become vain or self-conscious from this kind of adulation. My impression was that her confidence was too well established to be shaken by either flattery or disapproval. Jacob, although withdrawn to a far corner of the room and completely ignored by the visitors, still beamed at the way Nessie was generally admired.

Eventually the talk became more leisurely. Carlisle and Eleazar began a scientific discussion I wasn't quite able to follow; Rosalie, Kate, Edward, and Kate's new mate, Garrett, talked cars; and the rest discussed the upcoming move. Tanya's family, almost ready for a move themselves, were planning to relocate further east mostly in order to be closer to us. Esme and Carmen began going over possible locations. That left me with Tanya, now the Denali's fifth wheel.

Even now that I was as indestructible as Tanya, and arguably as beautiful, I found her just a little intimidating. She was leader of her coven, but unlike Carlisle, she seemed to carry an air of authority.

"Have you had another visit from your Chilean friends?" Tanya asked. She seemed deliberately casual. "Huilen and her nephew?"

"About six weeks ago," I said. "But I think you know about that visit. Didn't they go up to Alaska and drop in on you at the same time?" It had made Carlisle hope they were seriously considering the 'vegetarian' lifestyle. Nahuel, in particular, had shown a lot of interest. He'd begun to think of refraining from hunting humans as a tribute to his deceased mother.

"Oh, yes. I was just wondering if they've been back." I saw Jasper glance in Tanya's direction. His eyes widened slightly before he regained an impassive expression.

I shook my head. "No, not since then. Huilen doesn't like leaving home too often."

"No, I understand." Tanya pursed her lips thoughtfully. "It would be nice to see them again, though."

I noticed Edward's eyes dart from Jasper to Tanya. Jasper gave Edward a questioning look, and Edward responded with the barest nod of his head, pressing his lips together as though trying not to laugh. Nobody else seemed to have noticed their brief interaction. They both returned to their own conversations.

Tanya dropped the subject of Nahuel and Huilen, and we made polite small talk, both of us looking for an interest in common. Her eyes fell on my left hand. "I never did get a good look at your engagement ring," she said. "Do you mind?"

"Not at all." I held my hand out. Maybe jewelry was something we could talk about.

"It's lovely. Is it an antique?"

"Yes. It was Edward's mother's engagement ring."

Kate looked over at us. "Oh, that's so sweet! I didn't realize."

"And a wedding band to match," Tanya observed. "Was that hers as well?"

"No, Edward bought that. His mother was buried with her wedding ring." I'd chosen an old fashioned, narrow, gold band which looked appropriate beside the engagement ring.

Tanya smiled. "Is that engraving on the inside? What does it say?"

" 'Incipit Vita Nova_'." Here begins a new life._ Edward had had it engraved before the wedding, with our names and the date.

"Dante," Tanya noted. "Very romantic. Typical of Edward."

It _was_ romantic, as a matter of fact. It was part of a longer quote, the first sentence from the love story of Dante and Beatrice:  
><em>I<em>_n that book which is my memory,  
><em> _On the first page of the chapter that is the day when I first met you,  
><em> _Appear the words, 'Here begins a new life'_.

"And what did you have engraved on _his_ ring?" Tanya asked me.

" 'Omnia Vincit Amor'." _Love conquers all_.

"There's never been a couple for whom that quote was more appropriate," Carlisle added. The others smiled.

"No, I suppose not," Tanya said thoughtfully.

"Mine says 'Resistance Is Futile'," Emmett offered, and we all laughed.

"And the charm bracelet, is that a gift from Edward as well?" The odd way Tanya said it suggested she knew more about the bracelet than she was saying, but I let it go.

"No. Well, one of the charms is." I touched the heart shaped diamond, now one of five charms attached to the links.

Tanya examined the bracelet. "These charms, unless I'm mistaken, are supposed to represent important events, or important aspects of your life, is that right?"

"Well, yes. At least, they represent those things in _my_ mind. I don't know if the symbols would make sense to anybody else." I felt a little awkward. I assumed she found my charm bracelet tacky and juvenile.

"I see. And what do the charms symbolize for you?"

I pointed to them, one by one. "My human life, my...vampire life, Edward, Nessie, and my family."

"Interesting. By your family, I assume you mean this family - Carlisle's."

"Yes."

"The 'family' charm seems to be a crest or banner of some kind, correct?"

"That's right," Carlisle answered for me. "It's the coat of arms of the old town of Carlisle, near the Scottish border. I was named for it, as my mother's family came from there." Tanya examined the colourful image: two dragons supporting a crowned shield, which was decorated with a cross and four red roses. The inscription beneath was _Be Just and Fear Not_. It was not the ideal symbol for the Cullens, but I had never found one that really expressed how I felt about my family, not so far.

Tanya nodded and moved on to another charm. "Edward is represented by the diamond heart, naturally?"

"Yes. He gave it to me just before we got engaged." It was some time before I had figured out it was a genuine diamond, and by then it was a little late to freak out. Besides which, I had become better at accepting gifts by then. Anyway, if I was willing to accept the prototype heart, why balk at a mere five carat replica?

"And the one that stands for Nessie. A snowflake?" Tanya touched the little charm.

"She made it herself. Last Christmas, Esme taught her to crochet, and she made these snowflakes for the Christmas tree." Everyone smiled at the memory of Nessie hanging the ornaments on the tree and dashing around it to examine it from all angles. "She made this very tiny one specifically for me to hang on my bracelet. Edward had it encased in acrylic." I held up the tiny clear disc, edged with gold, which held Nessie's snowflake. "It also makes me think of her because...after our argument with the Volturi, Nessie went outside and started playing, jumping up to catch snowflakes in her hand. It was so wonderful to see her, happy and carefree, after the close call we'd had...well, seeing this snowflake reminds me of how precious she is to me." My eyes wandered to where Nessie lay peacefully asleep in Jacob's arms.

I looked up to see everyone watching me and listening. I ducked my head, embarrassed at my emotional ramblings. Edward took my hand and pressed a kiss against my hair.

Carmen now moved closer to join us. "And this little image - I think you said it symbolizes your human life? How does a wolf stand for that, in your mind?"

"It's a little hard to explain," I said. "The main thing is, it was a graduation present. Graduation was supposed to be the cutoff point for my being changed. It was also immediately followed by my getting engaged to Edward, and a lot of other...significant changes in my life. I guess that's why it stands for my life as a human." I shrugged.

"I understand. It is a very personal thing." Carmen touched the fifth and last charm. "And this one. It represents your life as a vampire, you said." She examined it more closely. It was a tiny square of pale blue ceramic, with black lettering on it. "What is the writing? Is it Hebrew?"

"Yes. It's..." I started to feel bashful, especially with all eyes on me. The charm suddenly seemed pretentious and a bit weird.

Edward put in, "It's the Hebrew word for 'compassion'."

Tanya looked at me in surprise. "And that's what characterizes the vampire life to you? Compassion?"

"An unusual perspective," Eleazar remarked.

Esme smiled at me. "Bella found it in a little store when she, Alice and I were out shopping one day, and she immediately thought it was the perfect symbol. She said it stood for her new life, because compassion is the law which a vampire needs to observe more than anyone else."

"Why is that?" Eleazar asked, looking at me. He seemed merely curious rather than challenging.

I grimaced, hating to get into deeper issues with people who were centuries older and more experienced than myself. "It's just that humans, most of them anyway, have built in limitations that keep them from being as cruel or selfish as they might like to be. Their human weakness teaches it to them. Vampires don't have any weakness to speak of. Humans can't hurt vampires, can't kill them, can't even find them if they don't want to be found. They have no pragmatic reason to be anything but cruel and self serving. So they _need_ to be compassionate. Without that, they would..._we_ would lose ourselves, lose our souls, you might say. We'd turn into monsters for real." There was no response. "I don't suppose it makes much sense..."

"You're mistaken, my dear," Eleazar answered. "It makes the most perfect sense."

I was relieved when the attention turned away from me, and I sat and happily listened to the diverse conversations taking place simultaneously.

After half an hour, Edward's hand gently pressed my shoulder. "It's very late," he said. "Maybe we should get Nessie to bed."

I nodded and crossed the room to take Nessie from Jacob. He transferred her carefully from his arms to mine and gently kissed her forehead. "I'm going to phase and run home for the night. What's left of the night, that is. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay. 'Night, Jacob."

He said good night to the Cullens, received a passing farewell from the visitors who felt obliged to acknowledge his presence at last, and trotted out the door, disappearing into the pitch black night. I wished everyone good night, as did Edward, and we walked down the familiar path to our stone cottage.

"I'm going to miss this place," he remarked.

"The cottage? Yes, so will I." It was the first home we shared after my change, after Edward and I became real equals. It was filled practically to bursting with nothing but happy memories, all the furniture except Nessie's bed having already been removed. I carried Nessie carefully to the pretty little canopy bed that had replaced her crib, lay her down and covered her with the hand-stitched pink and green quilt Esme had found in an antique shop. Edward stooped to give her a kiss and lay his hand gently on her head for a moment, then we moved on to our own empty bedroom.

"What was going on between you and Jasper?" I asked him. He looked at me enquiringly. "When she mentioned Nahuel and Huilen."

"It's a little personal," he said, reluctant as usual to tell someone else's secrets. "But I'm sure you'll keep it to yourself."

"Of course."

"It seems Tanya's developed something of an infatuation with Nahuel. Perhaps something deeper than an infatuation."

"She has?" That came as a complete surprise. "Does he feel the same about her?"

"She's not sure herself, so I don't know. He's visited Alaska more often than any of us had realized, and they've spent a lot of time together, but she's still uncertain about his feelings. She's been thinking about visiting him in Chile. It's all very unresolved at this point."

"Tanya and Nahuel. That would be interesting."

"It would. In many ways, he's perfect for her. She likes some of the qualities of human men, and Nahuel has those, but without the traits that would make them too unequal. Or that would allow her to completely control the relationship. It would be a learning experience for her," he chuckled.

"How so?"

"Never mind. I've already said too much," he said, looking uncomfortable. I let it go.

"You realize this would clear the field for Jacob." Nahuel had been the only other likely contender for Nessie's future husband.

"That did occur to me." He smiled. "We'll just have to wait and see."

The next five years would be interesting, to say the least.

"I meant to ask you," he said, "about wanting to move the other bed to our new house."

"What about it?"

"I thought you found the thing too extravagant. I had no idea you liked it at all."

"I loved the gesture, and it's very pretty. I just had trouble with gifts like that at the time."

"Thank goodness those days are gone." He moved closer, looping his arms around my waist.

I smiled. "But there was a particular reason I wanted to keep the bed."

"Oh?" He pressed soft kisses against my temple, my cheekbone, along my jawline. His hands roamed.

"Yes." It was a bit of an effort to stay focused. "That bed was the scene of a great deal of frustration. If you remember."

His mouth quirked in amusement. "I remember very well."

"I was hoping we could take the poor thing with us and, you might say, exorcise it of all that negative energy." I had more specific plans in mind, including a re-enactment of certain key scenes from our pre-wedding days, or rather nights, with alternate endings as needed, but I thought I'd let those come as a surprise.

"And replace it with positive energy?" I nodded. "I think we might be able to manage that." His lips moved down the side of my neck.

"I'm very sure we will."

"But we can talk about that another time. Right now, in case it had escaped your notice, we have less than four hours before sunrise."

Four hours. To a couple for whom every night was still their wedding night, four hours was barely sufficient. I gladly set everything else aside until morning.


	4. Important Visitors

The light from the east was sparkling off the little pool behind our cottage when we finally agreed, reluctantly as always, to call it a night and get ready to rejoin the world. Edward chose his clothing from the few items remaining in the oversized closet, while I put on the red dress Alice had left for me.

Nessie was still asleep, but beginning to roll and thrash in the way that usually signalled she was nearly ready to wake up. Edward gently picked her up and we started for the main house, letting Nessie wake up to find herself being carried in her father's arms. Smiling, she reached over for my hand, and Edward laughed as she showed me a series of images of herself, falling asleep in one place and waking up somewhere else entirely, as though transported by magic.

The Cullens and their visitors were still gathered in the dining room, but now conversation had given way to an informal singing bee. Each participant was to sing something from their original time and place, Edward quietly explained to me. It would make for a lot of variety, and the actual singing was beautiful, although the exercise reminded me a little of a Personal Empowerment Music Retreat that Renee had once attended. As we came through the back door, Jasper was playing his guitar and singing a love song in Spanish, making the others laugh with his purposely melodramatic performance.

As he concluded, the group turned to greet us. Emmett grinned at Edward and me. "Hope you had a peaceful night!" I frowned at him, to no effect.

Nessie put her hand to my face, letting me know she was hungry. Edward smiled. "Breakfast time for the half human?" He paused as we headed toward the kitchen. "Where's Kate?" Edward asked, looking around the room. "And Garrett?"

Tanya snorted. "Out for a walk. For the past two hours. Newlyweds, you know?"

"_Do_ I?" Emmett snickered. "When Edward and Bella..."

"Emmett!" I said sternly. "I would _hate_ to think you're the kind of person who doesn't honour his gambling debts." He growled, but stopped talking. Even though I'd finally put an end to arm wrestling matches with Emmett, I held him to the bets he'd lost while I was at my strongest. He was permanently cut off from remarks about my sex life. It was a trial for him.

We got Nessie to finish an egg and half a slice of toast, and to drink a little orange juice, while Emmett sang Barbry Allen in a deep but surprisingly musical voice. I was headed upstairs to get her dressed but Rosalie asked if she could take care of it. "Sure," I said. "Thanks. I left a couple of outfits in Edward's closet." Nessie ran eagerly to her lovely aunt, and was taken upstairs. To be honest, Renesmee could probably dress herself perfectly well, but we weren't ready to give up the pleasure just yet.

We listened to Tanya sing something in Russian which she said was a folk song about a farmer and a fox; Alice provide a lively performance of Paper Moon; and Carlisle sing an odd, lilting song whose meaning was obscure to me, although it was in some form of English. Rosalie and Nessie rejoined the group, Nessie listening to the music with great interest.

I saw Edward watching me as I listened to the singing. He threw me a pleading look. I frowned a moment in concentration and laboriously lifted my shield, watching a smile steal over his face as my thoughts became clear to him. I had been thinking idly about the voices of the various people in the room. If Edward's voice was like velvet, Carlisle's was like heavyweight silk, soft but with an underlying strength. Esme's was deep and luxuriant, yet warm and caressing, like a sable coat. Rosalie's voice reminded me of wind chimes, and Alice's of little silver bells. Jasper's made me think of polished wood, smooth and hard but conveying a natural warmth; and Emmett's, now that I'd heard him sing, of one of those giant bronze temple bells. Edward looked rapt, strangely fascinated by even the most mundane thoughts that passed through my mind.

Before I could finish my comparisons, I noticed Jasper watching us, and let my shield fall back into place. At Edward's slightly paranoid suggestion, we'd kept the fact that I could remove my shield a secret from the family, as a precaution against the information ever getting back to Aro. We rarely talked about the Volturi, but the implied threat of their existence was always present in the distant background.

Tanya suggested I sing something.

"I don't really sing," I said, hoping she'd move on. "Besides, any songs from my time would be from, well, right now. Not very interesting."

"There must be something you used to sing when you were a little girl, at least," Alice said.

Seeing I would have to take my turn, I suggested a Stephen Foster song I'd heard Gran sing many times. It was probably already old when Gran was a girl, but it was part of my childhood, so it more or less fit the requirements.

"I know that one," Esme told me. "I'll sing it with you, if that makes it easier for you."

I accepted gratefully, and we sang Hard Times accompanied by Jasper's guitar. That was followed up with a World War I recruiting song from Edward; he and Alice singing Alexander's Ragtime Band; and something sad and melodious in Latin from Eleazar.

I looked at the clock. "I'm sorry, but I should get going." I stood up to take Nessie from Rosalie's lap.

"Where are you off to today?" Carmen asked.

"To my father's house. I wanted to spend some time with him before we leave, and let him say goodbye to Nessie."

"Will you be seeing him again?" she asked solemnly.

I was momentarily startled before I realized this was a reasonable question. New vampires rarely - well, more like _never_ - kept up contact with their human acquaintances. It was not unheard of to fake death as a way of explaining their sudden disappearance. "Yes, I'll be coming back to visit. But it's the first time I actually went away and lived somewhere else. He's used to seeing us at least once a week."

"It's a rare privilege for one of our kind."

"Don't get her started," Rosalie murmured.

"I know." I gave my family a grateful look. "I'm very lucky."

Edward saw me to the door. "Are you sure you don't need me there?" He'd offered to stay behind today and let me have some private time with Charlie.

"No, it's probably better this way." Charlie had come to accept Edward, but was still not entirely comfortable around him.

He kissed me and then Nessie, and I opened the door just as Garrett and Kate arrived at the doorstep, looking slightly rumpled. I greeted them and held the door to let them pass.

"Hi! What did we miss?" Kate called out as she entered the house, hand in hand with Garrett. I could see Emmett's eyes light up at the prospect of somebody to tease, and made my escape before he could get underway.

I strapped Nessie into her booster seat, the only one we'd been able to find that fit properly in my Ferrari. It was not generally considered a family car. Nessie didn't really need child restraints for safety, but I couldn't explain that to highway patrol, should I ever get pulled over. She entertained me on the way by singing Edward's recruiting song for me, the militant lyrics sounding incongruous in her piping child's voice. I thought about the idealistic young Edward who had been so stirred by these songs and other patriotic hoopla, he'd decided to enlist in the army the moment he was old enough. If the influenza epidemic hadn't intervened, he would have gone, and more than likely died on a battlefield in Europe. My mind wandered over subjects like fate and random chance, and the way wonderful things could arise out of truly terrible events. I caught Nessie's eye in the rear view mirror, and she leaned forward in her seat, stretching her hand out to touch me and tell me something.

"Use your words, Nessie." I giggled to myself. I often heard parents say that to their young children, but the meaning was a little different.

"Momma, if we go away tomorrow, when will we see Grandpa Charlie again?"

"I don't know exactly, but fairly soon. We'll come back to visit."

"Will he come to visit us?"

"I'm not sure about that. Grandpa doesn't like to travel, and it's harder for him to get away from his job. It might be better if we came here instead." Especially in a few years, when we'd assumed our fake identities. "We'll come back when he and Sue get married, for sure."

"Yes! Aunt Alice said I get to wear a fancy dress." She sounded much too happy about that for my liking. "I like Sue. She's kind of like Poppa."

That surprised me. "How is she like Poppa?"

Nessie tried to find words, becoming frustrated with their limitations. I reached my hand back to her, and she took it in relief, showing me a series of glimpses of Edward becoming angry or morose because someone he loved had been hurt or upset. I saw parallel images of Sue, reacting the same way over Seth or Leah, or on one occasion Charlie. I remembered the way she had cut off her hair, apparently as a gesture of support for Leah. It seemed very insightful of Nessie. I merely said, "I like Sue, too."

"Will she be Grandma Sue, or will I still call her Sue?"

"After they're married? Maybe we should find out what she would like better."

I pulled the Ferrari up in front of Charlie's house, causing a neighbour to peek through the curtains at it, quickly popped in my contact lenses, lifted Nessie from the back seat, and headed for the house. The irritable retriever from three doors down jumped off its front steps as I appeared, looking aggressive and territorial; but when it came within twenty feet of me, it stopped short. It froze in one place a moment before beginning to whimper, shake, and back away. It writhed, rolled briefly on its back in terror, and finally turned and dashed off in the opposite direction, making strange, panicky noises as it went. "Oh, what do you know?" I muttered, hurrying along to the front steps. The door swung open as I reached the porch, and Seth Clearwater stood smiling at me, chewing something. "Nice to see you, Bella. Hey, Nessie."

"Hi, Seth." Renesmee smiled at him and then ran to her grandfather, who was sitting at the kitchen table finishing his morning coffee. Sue sat across from him with a cup of tea, but while Charlie was still in his bathrobe, Sue was fully dressed. I was well aware that Sue spent almost every night here, except when Charlie stayed at her place; but Charlie continued to maintain the facade that Sue had just happened to drop in for dinner, breakfast, or whatever else was going on at the time. I was touched by his efforts not to scandalize me, futile though they were. "Hey, Dad. Sue."

"How are you, Bella?" Sue said pleasantly enough. The natural enemies thing was nearly behind us. She'd stopped cropping her hair very short, and for some reason I took that as a sign she'd given up some of her resentment. Her straight, dark hair, neatly parted on one side, now reached her chin. She'd be a nice looking bride.

Charlie turned in his chair. "Morning, Bells. How's the moving coming along?"

"Pretty fast. We'll be ready to go on schedule." I swallowed against the slight burn in my throat. I was used to it now, but it was still irritating.

"Good." He scooped Nessie up onto his lap. "Sure you don't need a hand?"

"No, we've got a whole houseful. It's all taken care of."

Seth returned to the kitchen and stood at the counter to finish his supersized breakfast. The wolves often ate like that, I'd noticed. Maybe they thought sitting slowed them down. "That's one nice thing about a big family."

"True."

Charlie gave me a funny look. "You're going to be living in your _own_ place, you and Edward, right?"

"Sure. You know that; the little brick house. I showed you a picture." The house a few minutes from the Cullen home and conveniently close to a national forest.

"Yeah. Good. It just seems a little difficult for a young couple to be living with the in-laws."

"I see what you mean, but the Cullens are very easy to get along with." Sue grimaced slightly, and I tried changing the subject. "Sue, I have a trunkful of canned goods and stuff that Esme sent over for the shelter." It was a residence and assistance programme for battered women, a cause dear to Esme's heart. Sue volunteered there regularly.

"Thanks. How about I put it in my car now, before I forget?"

"I'll get it, Mom." Seth dumped his dishes in the sink and trotted to the front door, snagging Sue's car keys on his way by, and hauled the items from my trunk into Sue's. "Nice of Esme," he commented. I agreed. He looked at his watch as we returned to the house. "Mom, I'm going to run over and see Jake, okay?"

"Sure."

He turned to me. "Bella, Jake's probably going back to your place later, right?"

"Yeah, I was going to offer him a ride."

"I'd like to stop in and say goodbye to Edward. Could you give us both a ride back when you go?"

"No problem."

"Okay. I'll see you around dinnertime."

"When else?" Sue said. Seth grinned at her and dashed out the front door.

Sue rose and carried her mug and Charlie's to the sink. I mentally shook my head over Charlie's acceptance of being waited on whenever there was a woman in the house. Still, it was better for all concerned that he wasn't doing any of the cooking. "I have to get to work," she told me.

Charlie looked up. "Half day today, right?"

"Right."

"Want to come by this afternoon?" he asked casually.

"That would be fine."

I smiled at the pretense that Sue wasn't in residence. It was silly, although a little sweet that Charlie was still trying to set a good example for me.

Sue leaned over to kiss Charlie goodbye, which he accepted awkwardly since I was in the room. "Bye, Bella. Tell Esme thanks for the donation, will you?" Without waiting for an answer, she walked briskly out the front door. I heard her car start and rumble down the street.

It was just Charlie and me, which probably meant a quiet day. We still never found that much to say to one another. Charlie had got some sheets of paper and two pencils, and was presenting Nessie with simple drawings and inviting her to copy them. It wasn't a bad idea; drawing was a favourite pastime of hers, although she had to fake incompetence as long as Charlie was watching.

"She's so damn smart!" he commented, watching Nessie copy his sketch of a house.

"Yes, she is," I said proudly. Among her other fine qualities. I sat at the table across from Charlie.

"Help yourself to a drink or whatever." He still made these offers, although he must have noticed I never accepted them.

"Thanks, I'm good."

He nodded. "So. Off to college at last."

"Yep!"

"Pretty exciting."

"Yeah, it is." Most of our conversations still went like this.

"Nervous?"

"Oh, a little. But I'm sure I'll get used to it fast."

"Sure." He watched Nessie a while longer, frowning slightly when she sketched a more detailed house, this one looking strikingly like Charlie's own. He looked over at me, and I immediately sensed something was up.

"What was going on with Mrs. Powell's dog?" he asked, very casually.

"The dog? Nothing. He growled at me a little, then just ran off."

Charlie seemed to be thinking this over. "I was watching out the window. The dog looked like he was having a fit."

"You think so?" I asked rhetorically. "Do you have any orange juice for Nessie?" Changing the subject seemed like a good idea.

"Sure, right in the door of the fridge." I got up to pour her drink. "The dog looked afraid of you."

"Maybe. I don't know." I handed Nessie the drink, which she didn't really want. She gave me a look. "Nessie, what do we say?" Her look darkened. She never had to be reminded to be polite, not since she was mere weeks old, but I was trying to sound like a normal mother.

"Thank you," she said evenly. She had given her house an attached garage and rose covered trellis, and was starting to sketch in casement style awnings. I carefully covered her drawing with a blank sheet. "Can you draw a star, sweetie, like this?" I asked, drawing one for her to copy from. She grimaced, understanding the reminder: don't do anything significantly better than an average child your apparent age. She sighed and started laboriously drawing a very lopsided star.

I sat back down at the table, but Charlie hadn't been distracted from his point. "Just like the cat that was walking by that one time you came over. You went out the front door, and it went berserk."

"I guess I have a way with animals."

"Bells." His voice was serious. "I know there are some...odd things going on with you and the Cullens."

Like our own Personal Empowerment Music Retreat? I shrugged noncommittally, not sure yet where this was going.

"I just need to ask you..."

We were interrupted by a knock. Making an impatient sound, Charlie opened the front door to let Jake in.

"Hi, Charlie. Hi, Bella." We answered, but his eyes were already on Renesmee, who reached her hands out to him happily. He examined and commented on her drawings before turning back to us. "Sorry to barge in, but Seth and I and a bunch of others are going down to the beach. I was wondering if I could take Nessie. Last chance for a while to see the ocean."

"Sure, I guess so." I looked at Nessie. "Would you like to go, baby?" She nodded. "Okay, but just for a couple of hours."

"Should you get the car seat?" Charlie asked.

"I have one in my car," Jake told him, picking Nessie up. "C'mon, Ness. Biggest sand castle of all time, and you'll be there to witness it in the making." He gave us a wave, and was out the door.

Charlie sat back down. "He has his own car seat?"

"He sees Nessie a lot. Babysits her sometimes."

"Is she safe with him? He was always kind of a knucklehead, you know?"

He'd had his moments. "Jake's grown up a lot, Dad. Nessie's safer with him than she would be with almost anyone." Literally true. Her safety was essential to Jake's peace of mind.

He nodded. For a moment I thought the serious talk had been tabled. "Bella." He sat down on the sofa, and I nervously perched on the armchair opposite him. "I know I'm not supposed to ask about these things." Then don't, I thought, trying to think ahead and have an answer ready for every eventuality. "But you're leaving the area now, I won't be seeing you as often, and I have to know that you're going to be okay. I just want to make sure..." He ran down uncertainly.

I could see no way to avoid this. "What is it you're worried about, Dad?"


	5. The Truth About Cats and Dogs

"What am I worried about?" Charlie held his hands out as if to say _where do I start?_ "How about dogs and cats?"

Back to that. Stupid oversensitive housepets. "What about them?"

"Why are animals suddenly afraid of you? I know it wasn't always like that. The way they react..." He looked embarrassed. "I know it might sound stupid, but they say animals can sense things. They know when something's...not right."

"Not right, how?" This was not good. Why couldn't he have let it go, like he has the last two years?

"I know there's something strange going on with you and the Cullens. And Jake." He shuddered slightly, remembering the way Jake had shown him the real meaning of strange. "These animals..."

"Dad! This is ridiculous. Animals don't have some mysterious power to see into a person's soul, or whatever it is you're imagining. That's pure superstition."

"Then what _is_ going on?" When I didn't answer, he said, a little angrily, "I'm not asking you to fill me in on the whole story, Bells. I told you I didn't want to hear it, and that still stands. But," his eyes wandered away from mine uneasily as he prepared to make an emotional statement, "I need to know that you aren't involved in something wrong, or something you can't get out of. You're going to be away, where I can't look out for you. I know, you haven't exactly been under my care for a while now, but at least I was around if you needed help. Now I won't be."

"I don't want you to worry, Dad. There's no need."

"If you don't want me to worry, then tell me. Not everything, just what kind of thing you're involved in. If it's not bad, why is it a secret? Give me some idea, Bella."

I sighed. "I don't know what to say."

"Tell me what's up with the animals."

A safe place to start. "They don't really sense 'wrong', Dad. Dogs and cats don't have telepathic powers. They mostly depend on their sense of smell to figure out the world."

"So?"

"So, my scent...confuses them. They don't know what I am, and it freaks them out. That's all." Not quite all, but close enough.

"Your _scent_?" He stared at me, still worried, I could see. "Why is it so different it terrifies animals? What...?"

I thought I had a way to give him what he needed without breaking confidence, but I wasn't sure if it revealed too much. I wished I had Edward there to consult with, but I had to make the decision on my own. Something that didn't always work out for the best.

"Okay, Dad. I know you're worried, and it's reasonable that you want to know what's going on. But you understand, I can't give you the whole story."

"I get that. I don't even _want_ the whole story. Just enough to be sure..." He rubbed his forehead, looking distraught. This must have been gnawing at him for some time.

"I'll tell you what I can, Dad. The absolute basics. I promise I'll tell you the truth, but how _much_ I tell has to be limited. Fair enough?"

He nodded tersely. "Fine."

I sighed, hoping I was doing the right thing. "Okay. When Jacob did his little demonstration for you," He winced again. Jacob phasing must have been the shock of a lifetime. "he told you the world is not the way you thought it was."

"I remember." He waited, his arms crossed tightly.

"I guess that's the main thing. There are different kinds of people in the world."

"I guess you don't mean races of people?"

"No, I don't."

"Republicans and Democrats?"

I laughed, relieved he could still joke about it. "No. You've always thought there was only one kind. Ordinary human beings. That's not true." His arms tightened perceptibly. "There are several kinds of people. First, ordinary human beings like you." His eyes narrowed. Maybe he noticed that I didn't say _like you and me._ "Second, people like Jake, and some of the Quileutes." He stiffened. "They're...well, kind of a genetic anomaly. And then there are people like the Cullens."

"Jake said they weren't like him and Seth."

"No, they're a third type, I guess you could say."

"And they keep this a secret."

"Well, of course. For the same reason Jake and the others do. They're vastly outnumbered. You remember how _you_ reacted to seeing Jake when he...you know. Imagine if everybody knew. They'd freak out, maybe try to kill the Jake types, maybe try to capture them and do scientific experiments on them. Who knows? It probably wouldn't be good."

"i guess that makes sense. But now, Jake said, you're like the Cullens?" His eyes took in my altered appearance. I had hoped he'd become so used to it he'd forgotten I ever looked any differently.

"Yes."

"So what you're saying is, you're not a regular human being any more?"

"No, I guess I'm not."

"Then what are you?"

"I'm your daughter, Dad. I just had to change a little bit. I'm still Bella." That was the main thing to me, the thing I'd been worried about before the change. I'd been so relieved to find I still felt like me, only...souped up. I hoped Charlie saw it as the main thing, too.

"How did this happen? I mean, if they keep themselves a secret from everybody, how did _you_ find out about it?"

"This may sound ridiculous, but it was because Edward and I started dating. We fell in love, and finally he had to let me know what he really was, and what his family was." Charlie looked indignant, and I went on, "Should he have let me get involved with him under false pretences?"

He shrugged. "No, I guess not. So, you found out about this, and didn't tell anyone else?"

"It was a huge secret, Dad. They made an exception in my case, because of me and Edward, but it was a real risk for them to trust me. They could get in big trouble for telling someone." So could I have, deadly trouble; but I wasn't going to mention that aspect of it.

"Trouble with who?"

Straight to the heart of the matter. "Let's just say they have their own version of a police force." He thought that over. "I'm sorry I kept it a secret from you, Dad, but I_ really_ couldn't tell anyone. I felt bad lying to you. If it's any consolation, I made a point of always telling you the truth about everything else, to try and make up for it."

He snorted. "Everything? I don't think so."

"What do you mean?" I frowned at him.

"Your story about you and Edward being _old fashioned_?"

I glared at him. "I know you always suspected something was going on, but I was telling you the absolute truth. I was a virgin on my wedding day." He cringed at the V word, and so did I, a little, but I carried on. "And what's more, so was Edward."

"That's what _he_ told you," he muttered.

"It's the truth. There's no way he could...well, I can't explain, but it's absolutely true."

He could see I meant it. "Okay, then. Sorry I doubted you."

"You're forgiven." I hoped this might end the questioning.

"But why did you have to join up, be one of...whatever they are?"

"Because I loved Edward. We wanted to get married."

"And the Cullens were, what, against mixed marriages?"

I giggled. "And they wanted me to convert first? No, it wasn't like that. The Cullens were happy I was with Edward, no matter which...type I was. In fact, I was still a...a regular human being when Edward and I got married. I was changed afterwards. Partly, like Jake and Edward told you, because I was sick and probably would have died if they hadn't done it." He swallowed, remembering his fear when I'd more or less disappeared after the honeymoon. "And partly because I wanted it. I wanted to be like Edward. We couldn't be together quite the same way if we stayed different."

"Couldn't he have changed to the way you were instead?"

"No. It only works one way." I saw him take in the implication: I was this way permanently.

"Did it hurt?" he asked unexpectedly.

He would probably know if I lied. "Carlisle gave me morphine first," I told him, "but it still hurt." I said it casually, as if talking about getting a tooth filled. "It was worth it, though, Dad. I'm so happy now, I can't even tell you."

He nodded. My happiness in my new life must be obvious to anyone who knew me. "And this thing the Cullens are, this different kind of person. Is it, well...something bad? They seem like nice people, but maybe they're just keeping more secrets." He looked worried again. I wondered what kind of ideas, realistic or mythical, he had come up with to explain the Cullens. "I hate to think of you involved in something wrong, Bella, and not being able to get out of it. Like you'd married into the mob or something, and were afraid to try and leave."

"Dad! It's nothing remotely like that. I promise, I absolutely swear, I'd tell you if I were in any kind of trouble like that."

He relaxed a little. "Okay. So this...other kind of person, they're good?"

"Well..." He stiffened again. "Regular human beings, are they good or bad?" He seemed to get my point. "Exactly. Some are good and some are bad. It's up to the individual. Same thing here."

It seemed to sink in that there were more of these people than just Edward's family. "Are there a lot of them?" he asked nervously.

"No, not very many. Like I said, a tiny minority."

He seemed slightly reassured. "And the Cullens, they'd be some of the good ones?"

"Absolutely. They're the best people I've ever met. Not just nice to _me_, but really and truly good people." Impulsively, I reached over and took his hand. "Dad, I wish I could tell you what honest, kind, _decent_ people they are. They love me and Edward and Nessie. I'm as safe, and as happy, as I could ever possibly be. That's the absolute truth, Dad. Honestly, you don't have to worry about me, not for one second."

He finally relaxed. "Okay, Bells. Thanks." Something else occurred to him. "What about Nessie? What kind of..." He held his hands out, unsure of how to ask.

I smiled. "Nessie's special. She's half and half, basically."

"She actually is yours? I mean, you're her mother, you...had her yourself?"

He'd never asked directly before. "I did."

"How? If what you told me about you and Edward is true, then there wasn't time."

This was tricky, but it was also a good opportunity. Charlie would continue to face Nessie's unusual growth patterns, and it would be best if he didn't speculate on his own. "The fact is, Dad, this is a secret I'm going to have to ask _you_ to keep, for Nessie's sake." He looked concerned, but nodded in agreement. "I'm sure you've noticed that she, um, grows quickly."

He got that look on his face that said he'd rather block the whole thing out of his mind, but got a grip on himself. "Yeah, I could hardly help but notice. She's not even two yet, and..." He gulped. "But what's that got to do with it? You _really_ weren't pregnant before you and Edward got married?"

I rolled my eyes. "Dad. Think about it. You saw me on my wedding day. And a few weeks later, you met Nessie. Are you really suggesting I was eight months pregnant when I got married?"

"No, I see what you mean. But how...?"

"She grew the same way _before_ she was born." His eyes widened. "I got pregnant on my honeymoon. When the Cullens were telling you I was sick? I was pregnant, getting huger by the day." I looked down at my flat stomach, the unclear human memories running through my mind. "She was born September 10. Full term."

He still looked a little shocked. "Jake said you were _really_ sick, almost died."

I hesitated. "The pregnancy, it took a lot out of me. Apart from how fast it was, Nessie was sort of incompatible with my body. It scared Edward half to death. Like Jake said, I had to be changed in order to pull through. Of course, I was hoping to do that anyway."

Charlie stared off into space for a moment. I hoped I hadn't given him more than he could deal with. At last, he looked back at me. "She's still growing that way."

"Right."

"How long? I mean, does she grow into a giant or something?" He snorted, but quickly looked at me to make sure it wasn't the case. "Does she become an old lady in only a few years?" My fear, at one time. "What happens now?"

"She'll keep growing up quickly. It's gradually slowing down, but she'll be full grown in another five years, give or take."

"Five more years? She'll be an adult in _five years_?" Charlie looked as upset by this as by Jake turning into a wolf. Why would this, of all things, freak him out so much? "She'll only be a little girl for practically no time at all!" I understood now. In fact, I shared his feelings to some extent. A little longer would be nice.

"I know. That's kind of sad, but we'll just have to enjoy it while we can."

He looked at me sternly. "You'd better be planning to visit, and bring my granddaughter with you."

I grinned at him. "Count on it. I can bring your son in law with me, too.," I added slyly.

He grimaced. "I don't _hate_ Edward, you know. I was just worried about you. After what happened when he left..."

"I know," I said quickly. "But in light of what you know now, can you see why he'd do it? He thought I'd be happier if I stayed out of all that business. He didn't think I should have to change. He thought if he just took off, I'd get over it and go on to have a happy, normal life." I still got a sinking feeling just remembering. "Of course, it didn't work out the way he'd hoped. He fell apart worse than I did."

"So I heard."

"You did?"

"Seth told me. He was trying to convince me Edward's a good guy." I smiled to myself. Good old Seth. "It was part of what worried me. I know teenagers take these things hard, but you two took it to extremes. It didn't seem healthy."

I debated whether to explain this, and decided it might ease his mind a little. "I know, Dad. It was part of the different kind of people thing. See, the Cullen kind of people, they - I guess you could say they mate for life. You know, like eagles. And bandicoots."

He looked at me like I was crazy. Maybe he'd never heard that about bandicoots. "Are you serious?"

"Well, it's more complicated than with animals, but yes. With their... with _our_ kind of people, couples in love can't be separated for long. It practically kills them." Sometimes it really does kill them. If they're lucky.

"But you weren't...one of them yet."

"No, but apparently it's contagious. Well," I added hastily, seeing his expression, "that's oversimplifying things, but I think that's about as much as I can explain." Also, I didn't entirely understand the phenomenon myself. Some kind of weird, psychic Soul Mate link? Vulcan mind meld?

"Fine."

"So can you _please_ give Edward a break? He was sacrificing a lot to try and make sure I was happy."

He sighed gustily. "Fine!" he said again.

As long as we were on the subject, there was one thing I thought I should warn him about, before closing the book on this. Hopefully for good. "Dad? About Nessie growing up so fast and all? I should probably tell you, the timing thing is going to continue to be an issue."

"What's that mean?"

"The way we age now is different. Not just with Nessie. Again, you need to keep this to yourself." I started to bite my lip again. Was I telling him too much?

He snorted. "Don't worry. Who the hell would I tell?"

"Good point. Okay then. You remember when the Cullens first moved to Forks? I think Carlisle was the first one you met."

"Right. I ran into him at the hospital after an assault victim was brought in."

"Okay. Try to remember Carlisle from that day."

"What?" He looked puzzled. "Of course I remember him."

"No, I mean remember him clearly, in detail. As if you were going to give an exact description to the police later. Age, appearance, everything."

He frowned, but looked thoughtful for a moment, casting his memory back. "Okay."

"Now think about the last time you saw Carlisle. Within the last few weeks, right?"

"Right."

"How long from the first meeting until now? Eleven years?"

"About that." His confused expression disappeared. I saw him making comparisons in his mind. He looked at me closely. "You too?"

"Yes. You won't notice a lot of change in me, in any of us, from now on. And Nessie, once she's grown up, once she's physically nineteen or twenty, you won't notice many changes in her, either." I liked that explanation. Instead of talking immortality, it suggested we just showed our age very slowly. A lot less creepy. Movie stars did it all the time.

He sat silent and unmoving for a long time. "That's why you have to move every few years," he said at last.

"Yes, that's why."

"Probably under an assumed name."

Astute, but I suppose that would occur to a cop. "That's right. But no matter where I am, under what name, I'll be able to stay in touch. I'll still come back to visit, even if eventually I have to pretend to be your granddaughter or something." He winced slightly. "And you can still talk to me on the phone in between. It would be easier if you'd get used to email. Honestly, it's not fair to make your deputy do all the computer work anyway."

He chuckled, which I found encouraging. "What about Renee?"

I could feel my smile disappear. "That's a tough one. I'm still trying to figure out what to do about Mom. She's just not someone who can accept 'need to know' and she's terrible at keeping secrets." I sighed. It was an ongoing worry. "Right now, we're sending so many emails and photos back and forth and having so much IM chat," He blinked, and I realized he didn't know what IM was. Oh well, let Deputy Mark fill him in. "that she feels like we're constantly in touch, and doesn't miss seeing me as much. She's asked about visiting, but so far she's accepted my excuses. Eventually, I'm going to have to find a way to avoid the subject. Maybe give her a story about doing relief work somewhere far away with no electricity or phone service. I'm just playing it by ear for now."

"Right. Well, I'll back up whatever you need to tell her."

"Thanks, Dad."

"And don't worry, my lips are sealed. Apart from sounding like a lunatic if I said anything, I don't want you getting in trouble with the special forces."

I smiled, but I was already starting to panic a little. I'd have to tell the family about the explanation I'd given Charlie, and wasn't entirely sure they'd agree with my decision. I set the thought aside for now.

We spent the rest of the day talking over old times. We looked through photo albums, including a lot of four, five, and six year old me scowling at the camera because I hated getting my picture taken. He told me stories, most of which I'd heard before, about me as a baby, and about the short visits we'd had every summer. I even got him to talk a little bit about my wedding, and how he felt about seeing me married at eighteen. He went so far as to discuss his brief marriage to Renee, and - in a very non-emotional way - how things were going with Sue.

It was the most Charlie and I had ever talked. I cherished the experience, doubting it would happen again.

"You'll be back for the wedding, right?"

"Dad! I wouldn't miss it for anything! Social event of the season." He laughed. "Seriously, I'm so happy you and Sue are getting married."

"Thanks. Did you know we might be moving into her place?"

"Really?" It felt strange to picture Charlie living anywhere else.

"Yeah, it's bigger than this one, and has three bedrooms. Besides, I don't want to make Seth move. He's been great about me and his mom, but he shouldn't be pushed out of his home."

"That's a nice thought, Dad. And you'll like having more space. For that new computer desk," I hinted. He chuckled.

I could smell the mix of werewolf stench and Nessie's sweet scent well before they arrived. There was a knock, and Charlie went to open the door for Seth, Jacob, and Nessie, carrying a distinct odour of beach and grilled hot dogs with them as well. Nessie ran over to me and I lifted her high in the air. "Did you have fun?" I asked, kissing her. She nodded, her eyes bright. I felt so glad my memories of her childhood, short as it might be, would never fade.

Before leaving, I made a quick trip upstairs, faking the need for a human minute. I stopped in the bathroom and changed my rapidly disintegrating contacts for fresh ones, then stepped into my old bedroom. The room had been gradually cleared of my belongings, leaving only the single bed, the desk and ancient computer, and the rocking chair. I paused for a moment, looking at the window through which my future husband had once crept in, apprehensive and elated and ambivalent and guilty, and ended up changing my life and his own, forever. And other lives, too. I was pleased I was finally able to convince Charlie of how happy I was in my new life, how much I belonged there.

On a whim, I opened the window, climbed easily through it onto the roof, and peered in at the empty bed, picturing myself in Edward's place, trying to imagine his feelings. I slipped back inside and sat a moment in the old rocking chair, smiling to myself. Then, ready to move on, I rose and hurried downstairs.


	6. Cover Story

The drive back home was livelier than the one to Charlie's. Jacob was in the back seat beside Nessie and Seth beside me, joking and laughing. They kept urging me to show them what the Ferrari could do, and when we reached a stretch of deserted road I obliged them. Jacob whooped in delight, and Seth cheered and raised both arms as if riding a roller coaster. Nessie laughed and clapped, more at the guys' behaviour than at the speed itself. I had to admit, it was fun.

I finally slowed down as we approached the house. "Now, that's the way a car like this should be driven!" Jake commented.

"You realize I'm _never_ going to get Nessie to take my future safe driving lecture seriously?" I told him. "Not after seeing this little display."

I put the car away and turned eagerly toward the house. Edward met us at the front door and tossed Nessie in the air before giving her a hug and kiss, then turned to embrace me. "Welcome home, love. Hello Jacob, Seth."

I clung to him a moment, enjoying the familiar feeling of relief at coming back to him after even a brief separation. He sighed, and I met his eyes. He felt the same way, I knew.

"I'm hungry!" Nessie exclaimed, climbing nimbly down from Edward's arms.

"I got it," Jacob said, taking her hand and heading for the kitchen. We followed him.

"How was your visit with your father?" Edward asked me.

"Good."

I saw Jasper give me a speculative look. Edward heard his thoughts and looked back at me with a worried expression. "Was it hard, saying goodbye? Was he upset?"

I could see that Jasper had picked up on my concern about what I had told Charlie, but I wasn't quite ready to discuss that yet. "No, it was great. We had a serious talk, though, and it got kind of emotional. In a good way, mostly."

"Charlie, emotional?" he joked.

"I know," I laughed. "A once in a lifetime event."

Jasper chuckled. "You're almost as bad." I shrugged sheepishly. I couldn't deny it.

The Denalis were in the dining room, saying their goodbyes, and there was a great assortment of handshakes, kissing and hugging going on.

Kate turned to me and gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "We'll be seeing you very soon, I'm sure."

"Did you decide on a location?" I asked.

"We're 90% decided on a spot in rural Quebec," she said. "Good hunting, and about 300 miles due north of Hanover, so we'll be able to visit easily enough." A long drive, but not that much of a run.

"We'll let you know when we'll be moving," Tanya said, hugging Esme, then Carlisle.

I was wished good luck with my first time through college. Nessie interrupted her dinner to say goodbye, and was given special attention by all, and the family departed.

Jacob, who had remained in the kitchen with Seth throughout, commented, "Edward, you would've enjoyed seeing Bella this afternoon." Seth laughed.

He looked surprised. "Why, in particular?"

"She finally figured out what a Ferrari is good for. I think your present is growing on her."

Edward looked at me. "Is that so?"

"It's really _fast_!" I burst out, almost surprised by my own enthusiasm. Edward looked inordinately pleased.

Alice laughed in delight. "Hallelujah, she's one of us!"

Rosalie came down the stairs carrying two green plastic trash bags. "Used clothing for charity," she announced to the room at large. "Add anything you're getting rid of. I'm taking a pile into town in a couple of hours."

"I have one or two things, back at the cottage," I said. I headed toward the back door, taking Edward by the hand. "Come with me?"

He looked surprised, but followed me willingly. We were no more than a dozen yards from the house before I heard Emmett snicker, and Rose comment, "So that's why she drove home so fast!"

I ran the rest of the way to the cottage and led Edward through the door, groaning with embarrassment. "Now everybody thinks I dragged you out here to..."

He looked bemused. "And you didn't?"

"No!" I hesitated just a moment as he caught my eye, and repeated firmly, "No. I needed to talk to you."

"Of course. Is something wrong?"

"I don't think so, but I'm not entirely sure. See, when I was at Charlie's something came up. I made a decision about how to deal with it, but I didn't have a chance to talk to you or any of the family first, so I don't know if I did the right thing. I'm afraid it might be a problem." I started chewing my lower lip.

Edward took my hand and rubbed it soothingly. "Start from the beginning, Bella."

"Charlie was worrying about me. He'd started thinking about what was behind the cover story, and building things up in his mind. He was afraid I was involved in something dangerous, or something wrong, and that I couldn't tell anybody or get free of it. He was coming up with some strange scenarios, and I wanted to reassure him. Plus I was afraid he'd get so worked up he might end up revealing something. So I...told him a little bit."

Edward stiffened slightly, but his voice remained calm. "How much?"

"Very little, and extremely general. I can't see that it would be enough to ever cause a problem, but maybe I'm not the best judge."

"Can you tell me exactly what you said, and how he reacted?" He took my face in his hands. "Actually, I might get a better idea if you just showed me."

I nodded, concentrated, and lifted my shield away. I carefully ran through my entire conversation with Charlie in my mind, down to his reactions and facial expressions. At last, I let my shield fall back in to place and looked up at Edward.

He seemed to ponder a moment. "I don't see a problem either," he said, "but we do need to inform the others."

"I suppose so," I sighed.

"Don't worry." He smiled at me. "They're not going to bite you."

"No, that ship has sailed." I walked past him into the bedroom.

"Where are you going?" he asked, following. "I thought you weren't coming here to..."

I opened the closet door. "I said I had items to give away, remember?" I picked up two pairs of high heeled shoes, now on my list of banned footwear. "And if I'd really come here for _that_, would I have wasted time moving into the next room?"

"Likely not," he murmured, following me out the cottage door a little reluctantly.

There were surprised looks when we came back to the house only a few minutes after we'd left. "That was quick," Alice remarked, winking at me. I gave her a look, and made a great show of tossing the stiletto-heeled shoes into the giveaway bag one by one. She sighed, grieving.

Edward spoke to the family, facing Carlisle directly. "Bella wanted to speak with me. Something occurred at Charlie's house that she's concerned about. I thought we should run it past all of you."

They immediately went into Family Meeting mode, forming an irregular semicircle around Edward and me where we stood, at the entrance to the kitchen. I looked at Jacob, then at Nessie, who had finished her meal by now. Since her traumatic experience with the Volturi, I tried to keep her out of security-related discussions until she was a little older. Jacob caught my eye and nodded. "Come on, Ness. Let's go outside a while." They ran off through the back door, leaving Seth standing in the kitchen, eating cereal directly from the box.

Quickly but in precise detail, Edward described my talk with Charlie.

There was a short silence. Jasper asked, "Is that the entire conversation?"

"Yes," I said. "After that we talked about other things. The house, and the wedding."

He nodded thoughtfully. "It sounds as if he accepted your explanation."

"I'm sure he did. He didn't seem concerned after that." I looked around at them nervously.

Carlisle smiled at me. "Don't worry, Bella. I think you did the right thing. You were probably correct to think Charlie's anxiety could present a security risk. Giving him a little more information was most likely safer than letting his imagination run wild."

Emmett nodded. "From the sound of it, nothing you told him would lead him to the idea of vampires."

"And what you told him would have given him some peace of mind," Esme added. "He must have been worried for you."

Carlisle looked around at them. "Is anyone concerned about this?"

Several head shakes. Alice had been staring into space for some fifteen seconds, and she now looked back at him and also shook her head. "It's fine. I looked ahead twenty-three years, and didn't see Charlie breaking secrecy once."

"But what about after that?" I joked. She dropped her eyes. "Oh."

Edward pressed my shoulder gently. "Bella did have an interesting idea about keeping Renee out of the loop, while we're on the subject." He described my proposed cover story about becoming a relief worker in a remote part of the world, communicating with Renee only through an unreliable postal service.

"That's excellent," Jasper said. "It's plausible, covers all bases, and could be modified or extended for years, if necessary. Let's keep that plan ready to put into action whenever it's called for." The others nodded. "Has your mother started asking to visit with you in person?"

"She's brought it up a couple of times. So far I've come up with good excuses."

Jasper suddenly gave me a slight shove. "Knock it off, Bella."

I looked at him, startled. "What?"

"The guilt thing. Do you want to get Rosalie on you again?" Emmett laughed at that.

"No. Sorry. It's just that I thought of something else. The wedding."

"Sue and Charlie's wedding?" Esme asked. "What about it."

"Edward and Nessie and I are supposed to go. It didn't occur to me before, but probably Renee and Phil are invited."

"She hasn't mentioned it?"

"No, but she might not. She's kind of absent minded." I mentally scanned through our communications. "In her last email, she started to talk about the wedding, then diverged off into something else. She might expect to visit with me in person when she comes here in three weeks."

Alice grimaced. "Awkward. Obviously, you don't want to ask _her_ if she's been invited. And you don't want to ditch your dad's wedding."

"Why is it such a problem for her to see you?" Emmett asked. "I never did hear. I mean, you're not supposed to look any older yet, and you see Charlie still."

"She's the opposite of Charlie. She's _very_ observant, very curious, and very bad at secrets." I started chewing my lip again.

Edward unexpectedly turned to look at Seth. "How do you mean?" he asked, apparently in response to something Seth had thought.

We all looked in Seth's direction as well. He ducked his head. "Sorry, I didn't mean to get involved. Just letting my mind wander."

"It's all right," Edward told him. "It sounded like you had an idea. Something about sensory overload? And, I'm not sure...Hallowe'en?"

He chuckled. "Yeah. I don't know if it's much help. I was just thinking about how Jake phased in front of Charlie, so he'd be able to know just enough to stay in touch with Bella. The reason it worked, I think, is that Charlie was so totally freaked by the wolf thing, your family and the new Bella seemed non-creepy and normal by comparison. No offence."

Edward grinned at him. "None taken."

"So I was thinking, Bella's mom is going to be at a wedding with humans, wolves _and_ vampires. Not to mention some of the ceremony is traditional Quileute style. My mom's idea. I was thinking, it's going to be..." He looked at Edward, who was nodding thoughtfully, already hearing the concept in Seth's thoughts. "Probably you could explain it better than I could."

"If you like." Edward turned back to the family. "Seth was going to suggest we do nothing to shield Renee from any strangeness she may pick up over the course of the wedding visit. He thinks we should make it more obvious than usual, in fact."

"Why?" Emmett asked. "And what was that about Hallowe'en?"

Edward laughed. "Seth was thinking that a great way for a vampire to hide in plain sight would be to go out on Hallowe'en night."

"Or in Italy during the St. Marcus festival," Alice muttered.

"Yes, that's much the same idea. If Renee were to attend a traditional church wedding in Phoenix with Bella and myself, she might become aware of something slightly off. She's very intuitive. Like mother, like daughter." He smiled at me. "But if she comes to a less conventional wedding held by the ocean, at which some of the guests are werewolves, and the wedding ceremony itself includes unfamiliar, even peculiar native customs - no offense..."

Seth laughed. "None taken."

"...then any residual peculiarity she might sense from the vampire portion of the guest list would simply blend in with the overall strangeness."

"Told you you'd explain it better than me." Seth looked at the others, waiting for the verdict.

"I like it," Jasper said. "It has the advantage of simplicity, for one thing. There's no complicated plan to go wrong. And it should work, especially on someone sensitive to oddity, like Renee. Plus, if she does notice something, it should be easy enough to persuade her she's imagining things, influenced by the unusual atmosphere."

"It's easy to convince Renee she's letting her imagination run away with her," I agreed. "I've used that on her before."

Jasper looked at the ceiling. "More guilt?" Everyone laughed.

"It would be a good opportunity to satisfy her wish to see you in person," Carlisle said, "with minimal risk."

Esme turned to me. "Maybe you could ask your father whether they are invited or not? And if so, warn him about the plan."

"Sure."

"And make certain we are in agreement about how to introduce Renesmee at the wedding," Carlisle added. "If she is to be presented as Edward's niece and his and Bella's adopted daughter, fine. If that might seem improbable to Renee, we should use our new cover story, that Nessie is Esme's and my adopted daughter, and to make sure both Charlie and the wolves are updated before the wedding."

I sighed. "Charlie used to say, if you never lie, you don't need a good memory. It's a good thing my memory is perfect now, or it would be hard to keep track."

They laughed sympathetically, and the meeting came to a close.


	7. Rosalie

The highly gratified members of a local charity had carted out all the furnishings we were donating to them. Everything else had been stowed in the van except Nessie's bed, one more change of clothing for each of us, and whatever items we wanted to take along with us on the road. Emmett had asked to drive the van first, apparently succumbing to deep seated big rig driver fantasies. We would each be driving a car on the way. "Looks like we got us a _convoy_," Emmett muttered happily to himself as he secured items inside the van. He was so easy to please.

Jacob said goodbye and left for the night. He was hoping to spend some time with his family and friends, and take care of any important business that needed the chief's attention, before leaving with us in the morning. He was drawn in two directions, torn between the need to be with Nessie and his duty as pack leader. The rest of the pack understood why he had to leave, but he worried he was neglecting his responsibilities. Sam was left in charge, with Jacob available by phone when necessary; that was the best he could do. The Cullens had promised him plane tickets home any time he needed to attend to something in person.

Seth left with him, first saying his goodbyes to the rest of the family, receiving an uncharacteristic full-on hug from Edward. It was hard _not_ to like Seth, but Edward, who could actually hear the kindness of his thoughts, had a special fondness for him. "You have my email address. Keep in touch," Edward reminded him.

"You too. I'll see you at the wedding." Seth gave the rest of us a smile and a wave, and they headed outside with Jake. Rather than make them phase and run home, I'd lent them my Ferrari. Alice had convinced Jacob to leave his own car behind, arguing it probably wouldn't survive the trip to New Hampshire, and the Cullens were looking for a polite way to provide Jake with new wheels once we arrived.

Rosalie finished the bedtime chapter she was reading aloud to her neice, and I took Nessie upstairs and helped her into her pyjamas, then rejoined the others.

Edward lifted Nessie into his arms. "Almost time for bed, sweetheart. Tomorrow night you'll be sleeping in your new room." She touched his face. "Yes, in the same bed. We're taking it with us." She leaned her head on his shoulder and he rocked her gently where he stood.

She touched him again. "What song?" he asked. He paused, listening.

"What does she want?" I asked him.

"She wants to hear a song I sang for her once, when she was a few weeks old." He looked at Nessie. "Yes, I remember it." He paused to wrap her in an afghan we kept here for that purpose, then shifted her into a more comfortable position and cradled her against his chest, swaying back and forth and quietly singing an old lullaby, even older than Edward himself.

_Slumber, my darling, thy father is near, _  
><em>Guarding thy dreams from all terror and fear;<em>  
><em>Sunlight has passed and the twilight has gone;<em>  
><em>Slumber, my darling, the night's coming on.<em>

I sat down on the hardwood floor, and Rosalie joined me. I basked a minute in Edward's beautiful voice softly singing our daughter to sleep, all the while listening to the quiet conversations taking place in different corners of the house. The public domain approach could be nice, sometimes.

"Carlisle," Emmett called from outside, still full of excitement over tomorrow's trip, "since I'm taking the van, wilt ye be driving my Jeep?"

"_Ye_ is plural," Carlisle corrected absently, looking up from his book, "and should be preceded by _will_. Yes, I can drive it if you like. _My_ car, apparently, is being sold for scrap." He gave Edward a look, and Edward grinned at him without interrupting his song.

_Thy pillow shall sacred be,_  
><em>From all outward alarm;<em>  
><em>Thou, thou art the world to me,<em>  
><em>In thine innocent charm<em>.

Rosalie sat listening, turning the diamond on her left hand slightly and watching the faint light reflect from its facets. "That's a beautiful ring," I said, recalling that jewelry had been a successful fall-back topic in the past.

"Thank you," she said. "I've always loved it. Old fashioned, although not as old fashioned as yours. Of course, it was modern when it was bought. It's from my first engagement." My eyebrows shot up, and she laughed. "My first engagement to Emmett, I mean. We've had several weddings."

"Oh, right." I examined the ring more closely. It was a substantial, round cut diamond surrounded by a kind of scrollwork overlaid with tiny diamonds, worn next to Rosalie's wedding band. It seemed like an older style of jewelry, more popular in the thirties or forties. Not that I know anything about jewelry fashions.

"I suppose only the first one counts, but I loved the wedding part so much, I'd hold another one almost every time we relocated. I always kept the same ring, though."

I nodded. Edward's song was coming to an end, and Nessie appeared to be sound asleep.

_Slumber, my darling, I'll wrap thee up warm,_  
><em>And pray that the angels will shield thee from harm.<em>

"Do you think you'd ever want another wedding?" Rosalie asked me. "Maybe after we change ID's?"

"No!" I saw Edward grin, and said more calmly, "No, I think one is enough for me."

"Well, you'd have a chance to plan the wedding yourself. Maybe have it more the way you'd prefer."

I noticed Alice's indignant look. "The wedding was perfect the way it was. I can't imagine doing it any better."

"Yes, it was lovely, but you didn't have much input. There must have been things you'd have done differently."

"Not really."

"Oh, come on. Alice won't be offended. If you could plan your own wedding right now, all on your own, and have anything you wanted, what would you do?"

Apparently this was Rosalie's idea of entertainment, and she was trying to include me in the fun. I _did_ appreciate the gesture. "Sorry to be a killjoy, but I really have no idea what I'd do. I'm not good with things like that."

"Didn't you think about the wedding you'd have some day, when you were a little girl? I know I daydreamed about my wedding from the time I was eight or nine."

"When I was eight, I mostly daydreamed about being a pirate." This resulted in chuckles from around the room, and gruff cries of _Arrr! Avast, matey! Whoops, fell off the mainmast! _from outside, where Emmett was still fiddling with the moving van.

"It's true, though," Alice said, "when it came to wedding planning, Bella was pretty clueless."

"I'm sure you mean _clueless_ in the nicest possible way," I suggested. She grinned at me.

"There must be something you'd have liked," Rosalie insisted. "What if Alice hadn't been there to take charge? What kind of wedding would you have had?"

"None at all, probably."

Rosalie looked surprised. "You really would have gone with the drive-through chapel in Las Vegas?"

"No, the Vegas thing was a compromise Edward offered."

"A compromise between a wedding, and what?"

"Nothing."

"No wedding of _any_ kind?" Rosalie seemed a little shocked. "You didn't want to marry Edward?"

Although everyone went on with their activities as before, I could practically feel how hard they were listening. "Well...that's technically accurate, but not really the truth. I wanted to be with Edward forever, to be married to him for all intents and purposes. I just didn't want a wedding."

"Because of the attention?"

"No. That was uncomfortable, but not such a big deal. I was just against the whole idea. I was brought up to hate anything to do with marriage, and it was hard getting past that."

"You were brought up to...? By your _mother_?" She seemed flabbergasted. "Why?"

It seemed to be my weekend for heart-to-hearts. "Well, when my mom married Charlie, they were pretty young. From what I hear, things went very bad, very fast. They broke up after a year and a half. One day, when I was a few months old, Mom just took me and fled. Things were so awful between them, they couldn't even work out custody at first. Charlie didn't get to see me for a long time.  
>"Mom was really angry and bitter about the way things had gone; but she didn't take it out on Charlie, or herself, or even me. She took it out on the whole institution, on marriage. For as long as I can remember, marriage was the enemy. At best, it was ridiculous, and at worst, a trap."<p>

"And you agreed with her?" Rosalie asked.

I shrugged. "It wasn't a matter of agreeing or disagreeing. Renee didn't sit me down and give me a lecture on marriage. It was part of the background when I was growing up, like the air I breathed. I just accepted it, the way you accept stopping at a red light."

"So you didn't intend to ever get married?"

"I guess not. I never really thought about it one way or the other." Rosalie stared at me, seeming to find this astounding. "I never met anyone I'd consider marrying anyway, before Edward. But even after I'd met Edward, I never thought specifically about getting married. Mental block, maybe," I laughed. "Then _he_ brought it up and, well, at that point my programming kicked in. I'm afraid I gave him a hard time."

Edward was sitting on the floor across the room, a sleeping Nessie in his lap. "I think _a hard time_ would be a fair assessment," he said with a smile. "It took me weeks to get you to wear your ring, and you'd cringe every time you said the word _wedding_."

"But you still went through with it. That's the important thing," Alice commented.

Rosalie was frowning thoughtfully. "Did you only do it to make Edward happy?"

"That was part of it, at first," I admitted. "But in the end, the wedding was important to me, too. I'm very glad I agreed to it."

"Told you," Alice murmured.

Rosalie shook her head. "It's so completely different from the way I was brought up, it's hard to picture. From the time I was about twelve, my parents were focused on finding me a good husband. A _rich_ husband," she corrected. "It was my life's goal. They found themselves with this perfect trophy wife in the making," she said, a sarcastic edge to her voice, "and dollar signs danced in their heads. I was supposed to become wealthy and raise the entire family's status, just by being pretty. That was part of _my_ background when I was growing up, the air I breathed. Like you, it was something I simply accepted, like stopping for a red light. I may have given the whole concept a more romantic focus in my own mind, but it never occurred to me to think differently."

I wondered if she was trying to explain herself to me, almost excuse her attitude. "No, why would you? The way I was taught is a little weird, actually."

She laughed. "Unusual, maybe. But at least you knew your mother valued you for something other than your ability to catch a husband. My parents, they were devoted to me, but they thought that was all I was good for."

"Well, they were stupid," I said, without thinking. Immediately I regretted speaking. "I'm sorry! Oh, crap, that didn't come out right. I didn't mean to insult your parents, honest. I just meant, they were wrong. You're obviously not only good for..."

"That's okay, Bella." She smirked at me. "I appreciate the thought. It's odd, though. Your human life was very different from mine. The things that were the whole focus of my life, you barely thought about. Didn't you even want children?"

"I never thought about having children, honestly. I had no interest in being a mother, until I found out I was carrying Nessie. Weird, right?"

"I don't know, Bella. Everything about you has been weird, at least in the time I've known you. Maybe that's normal for _you_."

I shrugged, less embarrassed by her remarks than I once would have been. I was getting familiar with Rosalie's approach. "I didn't really expect that much from life, I guess. Not that I was gloomy about it, but I thought my life would be pretty ordinary. I figured I'd take things as they came."

"Different from me, again. I expected my life to be perfect, and I really was about to get every single thing I'd wanted." She paused, noticing my expression. "I know, you think it was shallow to live for a wealthy husband and a big house full of babies."

"No, that's not what I..." I stopped, highly uncomfortable. She looked at me questioningly. "You realize you weren't _really_ about to get everything you wanted, right?"

"What do you mean?"

"Rosalie, you must have thought about...if you had never run into that Royce King and his friends that night, if you had gone ahead and married him as planned..." I spread my hands out helplessly. Didn't she understand? "It would not have exactly been a happy ending. I mean, you would have been married to that horrible, evil man! Imagine how he would have treated you." We both simultaneously glanced over at Esme, who was sitting very still, looking out the window. Esme's brief, human marriage had been no bed of roses.

Rosalie looked at me a moment, seeming almost angry. "Yes, of course I realize that. Well, at some level. It's just hard to let go of the idea I was about to achieve everything I'd hoped for. I wasn't really, I know. It's silly, but the feeling of...of having caught the brass ring is just as firmly planted in my mind as the other feeling, the way I felt after Royce and the others had left me for dead. It should be either one or the other, don't you think?"

I realized the sounds of Emmett messing with the van had stopped some time ago. Through the back window, I could see him standing in the dark, his big arms crossed over his chest, looking down at the ground and listening. My heart went out to him.

Full of a horrible sense of responsibility for saying the right thing, I shut down and let my instincts lead. "I don't know about that. You were...frozen at the moment you went from the high point, to the very worst moment of your life. I guess they both got set in place."

I saw Carlisle's eyes widen, and I was filled with remorse. He felt badly enough for changing Rosalie.

"I guess they did. We're so different, again. Being changed, for you, was a way of getting everything you could want. I was left just short of that goal."

"But you _did_ get everything..." I hesitated a moment, but I was still running on intuition, and this _felt_ like the right thing to say. "I'm so sorry, Rosalie. I can't even imagine what it must have been like for you. But...I'm sorry, but I keep thinking how, instead of ending up with that _animal_ your parents pushed on you, you have Emmett. He loves you a billion times more than that Royce ever could. You have a family that loves you to pieces, too, and thinks you're great apart from being beautiful - even though you happen to be even more beautiful than when you were human. And, ironically, you have more money than Royce ever hoped to see in his lifetime. Isn't that everything you wanted in the first place? Except children, I know. But you couldn't want to have had children with _him._ And there aren't any guarantees; human women find they're not able to have children, all the time. I know, _I'm_ in no position to talk; I'm the one that ended up with the impossible miracle baby. I'm not saying it isn't important. But...didn't it _ever_ seem to you that you lost the brass ring and caught the solid gold one instead?"

She sat looking at me steadily, and my heart sank. Probably my instincts had been completely off base. "I'm sorry, Rosalie. I shouldn't have said all that," I told her. "I'm so sorry." I wanted to sink into the floor. And we had been getting along so well recently!

"Bella," she said evenly, "will you _please_ stop saying you're sorry."

"Sure. Sorry." I caught myself, and looked at her apologetically.

"I never thought of it _quite_ that way. But nobody thinks the way you do." I shrugged. Her mood was kind of hard to read. "It's true, though. I didn't _really_ have what I wanted, and I would have found that out before long, one way or another. And I did end up with everything, in the end. Except children, but then I have Nessie." She looked at me, and quickly added, "I don't mean to suggest I think of her as mine. But I do love being her aunt."

"It's okay. I know she's Edward's and mine, but in a way, she's really the whole family's. Especially yours, because she might not even be alive if it weren't for you." I couldn't help but look over at Nessie, lying asleep in Edward's arms. Edward was looking down at her face.

"Thank you, Bella." I stayed quiet, hoping I hadn't caused too much damage after all. After a moment, she said, "I don't know if it makes any difference, thinking this way. It's like resentment is built into me now, like it's in my venom. You almost had it happen to _you_," she said, suddenly fierce. "Do you think you could have just let it go?"

My mind veered away from the memory of the men in Port Angeles. "Probably not."

"I didn't think so. Maybe it's permanent. But then, finding Emmett changed me a lot, and helping you keep Nessie changed me, too. I don't think I'll ever be quite as happy in this life as you are - but then, who could be?" She grinned at me suddenly, and I smiled in relief. "You want everybody around you to be happy, like it's your personal duty to make sure they are. It's so silly." Her smile took the sting out of the words. "Still, maybe even I can eventually start to be satisfied with merely having every, single thing I've ever needed or wanted. In spades." She shook her head. "You know, you basically called me an ungrateful, delusional nitwit. In a nice way, of course. If anybody else had said those things to me, even Emmett, I would probably have knocked their head off. The youngest in the family always gets let off easily, I guess."

"Good thing," I said nervously.


	8. Last Minute Details

On the morning of the move, Edward and I did not wait until the sun rose to separate and get dressed for the day. The plan was to start driving early, while it was still dark. We put on the items of clothing remaining in our immense closet and closed the door on it for good.

"Somebody is going to wonder why this tiny little house has such a huge clothes storage area."

Edward chuckled. "If anybody lives here, they'll probably turn the closet into a kitchen. The house doesn't have one."

I stood a moment, looking out the sliding glass doors leading at the miniature beach Esme had arranged for us. I couldn't imagine ever loving another place the way I loved this little cottage. I opened the doorway and stepped outside to look at the pool in the vivid darkness.

Edward came to stand beside me, putting an arm around my waist and drawing me closer. "What are you thinking?" he whispered.

"How happy I've been here," I told him.

"And how sad you are to leave?"

"I might be, if I didn't know I would feel the same about any home we live in together."

"This one _is_ special. This was our first home as husband and wife."

I nodded. "And it's more than just our first home. It's a finish line."

"At the end of a marathon?" He smiled. "Ending up here together was quite an achievement. But it's not a finish line, because _we_ are not finished."

"No. Just a resting place, then."

"The first of many."

As Esme had told me, the place was not the important thing. We took our home with us.

We went back inside, where I carefully gathered up our sleeping daughter, keeping her wrapped in her bedclothes so she would not feel the cool outside air and wake up early. Edward dismantled her little bed, picked it up and carried it out the front door, while I carried Nessie in her bundle of sheets, leaving the empty cottage behind.

We reached the house, where the family was already starting to gather in the dark living room. We greeted them quietly, settled Renesmee in a corner on top of her mattress, and joined the rest of the family just as Alice and Jasper came down the stairway.

We quickly established who would be driving which vehicle. I would be behind the wheel of Edward's Aston Martin, his way of encouraging my budding interest in automobiles. Items needed to while away the trip were distributed to the appropriate cars. We planned to drive straight through apart from refueling, a forty-eight hour trip for most people, probably much less for any of us.

Alice's eyes went blank a moment. "We're going to be delayed slightly," she told us. "We have to wait for Jacob, and he's held up with some kind of reserve business."

"Great," Rosalie muttered.

"It is not as if we have a deadline," Carlisle pointed out. He settled down with his ever-present book. Emmett quickly unpacked a chessboard and started a game with Edward, and Esme sketched out details of the new house's decor. The Cullen family were all excellent at filling idle periods of time.

Jasper started some work on his laptop. "Anybody have names for me?" he asked. "I can get a head start on the paperwork for the next move."

"Edward and I will be brother and sister again," Esme told him. "He was planning to use the surname Masen, so my maiden name will be Masen."

Jasper nodded, his fingers busy with the keyboard. "Do you have a given name yet?"

"Anne," she said. "Anne Eloise Platte, nee Masen."

"I will be taking Esme's surname this time," Carlisle said, sending Esme a warm smile. "It seems only fair."

"And your given name?"

"Christopher."

"Again?" Jasper murmured, his eyes on the computer screen. "Edward, are you going with your middle name too?"

"No, I don't want to use Anthony any more. People insist on calling me Tony. I'll be Evan Charles Masen."

_Evan_ was my choice - it wasn't _too_ far from his original name - and Edward had chosen Charles as a tribute to my father.

"I'll be Angela Marie Masen," I said, "and Nessie will be Elizabeth Renee Platte." Another tribute, although neither grandmother would ever know about it.

Rosalie chose the name Lillian Rose, and quietly added that she and Emmett would be taking her surname, Hale. From the surprised, joyful expression on Emmett's face, this had far more significance than any of us understood.

While Jasper collected the remaining data, I helped Esme do a final tour of the house, just in case something had been left behind by accident - extremely unlikely, but she seemed to enjoy the ritual. As did I; this house had been my second home through the most significant part of my life, and my primary home after that. "Do you know who's going to be living here?" I asked her as we looked through the empty room that was once Carlisle's study.

"No, I've no idea. Mr. Jenks is handling the sale of the property. We asked him to try and keep the house and the land together as one parcel, if possible."

"Why?"

"For one thing, because we might want to move back here some day. It's a perfect place."

I looked at her in surprise. "You mean, just buy the house again, under a different name?"

"That's right. Of course, we wouldn't move back until quite some time has passed. We could not risk an older resident recognizing us."

Yes, we could only come back when the current generation was gone. I remembered a time I'd worried about how to manage things with my parents after I was changed, and Edward had told me, "It gets easier. After a few decades, everyone you know is dead. Problem solved." For some reason, I recounted this to Esme. Maybe leaving Forks behind was making me introspective.

"He must have been in a very black mood, to say such a thing to you."

"He was. It was when I was pushing very hard to be changed, and he was having a difficult time with the idea. He apologized for what he said, but he shouldn't have. It was true."

"I suppose so." We walked through Alice's room, which had been changed overnight from a colourful, richly decorated Art Deco boudoir to an empty box. "Did it upset you?" Esme seemed to be trying to gauge my feelings.

"It shocked me a little bit. I was constantly getting shocked all during those months, even apart from Victoria's attack and everything that went with it. It was exactly what I needed, though."

Esme, leading me through Emmett and Rosalie's empty room, looked at me inquisitively. "You needed a shock?"

"Sort of. When I was trying to get Edward to change me...I don't know why I'm boring you with all this."

"I'm not bored, Bella. And you're telling me this, I think, so I can know you better." Esme smiled, and my self-consciousness retreated.

"Well, I'd been asking to be changed, and arguing with Edward about it, for so long, I wasn't even thinking very much about what I was asking _for_. I mean, about everything it would involve, what would change, what I would be losing. I was too busy beating my head against a brick wall to think about what would happen if I ever managed to break through."

"A brick wall named Edward?" Esme joked.

"That's right," I laughed. "It was only after he'd agreed, provisionally, to change me that I really started to take in what I was doing. Over that spring, I saw a lot of horrible things about vampire life. I also started to realize there were good things about human life, that I'd be giving up forever."

"You were having second thoughts?" Esme looked concerned. Did she think I was about to confess to serious buyer's remorse?

"No, I wasn't having second thoughts. I never doubted my decision, not really, but at least by this time I was actually _making_ a decision, taking into account good and bad things about what I was choosing. Earlier, I was afraid to even admit there was any down side to the decision, because I thought Edward would try to use it to change my mind. Edward kept telling me I couldn't make this choice out of fear, and I guess I _had_ been doing that before."

"You don't regret those good things you left behind?"

"No."

Esme stood still where we were, in the corridor outside Edward's old room. "I'm surprised you can feel so certain."

I shrugged. "Well, this is partly hindsight. The second I opened my eyes after the change was over, and saw Edward there with me, I knew I had done the right thing. But even before that, I was sure enough. Through that whole spring, you and the rest of the family were telling me things I needed to know, so I could understand what I was signing on for. I also got a better idea of what I would be leaving behind, and I think that was important. It was stupid of me to think I could make that big a decision without some kind of trade-off. Staying human would have been a trade-off, too. Only that choice really _would_ have meant giving up too much."

"I see." She looked at me thoughtfully.

"What I've wanted to say for a long time is, thank you. I felt so guilty," I made a 'busted' face, and she laughed, "because I was the only one who actually had a choice. I wish all of you had. I was able to go into this life prepared, and knowing I'd be kept safe. I knew what I was choosing, and I knew it was the right thing for me, and knowing that has been...it's worth more than I can even..." I struggled to find the right words. "It's the best thing this family has ever done for me, and that's saying something." I ran out of steam, feeling awkward again. Emotional statements are a pain.

Esme hugged me fiercely, almost painfully, for a long moment, finally letting me go and smiling at me with affection I could practically reach out and touch. "Should we go and check out the cellar?"

"Sure."

We started down the stairs. On the ground floor, the same pastimes were going on. Rosalie was arguing with Emmett about whether he should take the name Gunner. I knew they had all heard my discussion with Esme, but only Rosalie gave any sign of it, looking at me with an odd expression as I passed through the room.

The basement, which most people would simply call a large, concrete-lined hole in the ground, was difficult for humans to access. It was normally used to store things we preferred to keep secret, especially from law enforcement. As expected, nothing had been left behind. Satisfied with her tour of inspection, Esme led me back to the ground floor.

Alice was staring blankly at the wall when we returned. She refocused with a smile. "Thunderstorm," she said happily. "In about ten minutes."

"It doesn't matter. We're leaving." Emmett looked out the window anyway, as a distant flash of lightning lit up the dark sky. Alice just smiled.

Only half a minute later, we heard the sound of a Ferrari approaching the house at somewhat faster than the posted speed limit. It braked to a sudden stop a short distance from the house, and Jake jumped out and ran for the door, obviously excited. He immediately looked around for Nessie, lowering his voice when he saw she was sleeping. "Are we going to wait until she wakes up? he asked.

"We hadn't discussed it," I said. "I could _probably_ put her into the car without waking her."

"Can I suggest something else?" Alice asked. "I think we should take advantage of the thunder, and have a game for old times' sake before we leave."

"Alice, that would delay us by two hours, at least," Esme objected.

"Carlisle just said there was no deadline. By the time we got back, Nessie would probably be ready to wake up."

"What would we do with her while we're playing?" I asked.

Jacob raised his hand. "I'll stay with her. I don't think I want to see what you guys call baseball."

"We would need a change of clothes," Rosalie objected, but already looking hopefully at the sky.

"I think I can manage that." Alice went outside, rummaged through the van for several minutes, and returned with a selection for all of us.

We looked at Carlisle, who shrugged. "Play ball!"

* * *

><p><strong>Note: The personal significance of Rosalie allowing Emmett to take her surname was suggested to me by giselle-lx's moving short story, Secondhand Rose. Thanks to her for the inspiration.<strong>


	9. Farewell to Forks

I thanked Jacob for the babysitting, and we hastily changed clothes and dashed outside and through the woods to our familiar playing grounds, Emmett digging out the balls and bats on his way by. The thunder moved closer, and was sounding loudly by the time we reached our field, a light drizzle falling and casting a haze over the area.

The excitement of moving on to a new place, and the fun of spontaneously playing hooky from the day's task, gave more zest to the game than usual. We played boisterously, rooting each other on and sliding dramatically into base even when it was unnecessary. Even I could play a respectable game of baseball by this time, and I leapt and cheered shamelessly when I got Emmett out with a difficult catch in our expanded outfield.

Alice was winding up to pitch when she suddenly stopped short, holding up her hand for us to remain still. A minute later, we all smelled, then heard it: vampires approaching. The first strangers that had been in the area since my junior year in high school.

What _is_ it about baseball that draws vampires like a magnet?

Everyone's eyes immediately went to me. Not that I was any more vulnerable to attack than the others, not now; but the situation was all too reminiscent of the first Cullen family baseball game I'd attended.

We moved closer together, facing south, the direction from which the strangers were approaching.

"How many?" Carlisle asked quietly.

"Two," Alice told him.

He turned to Edward. "Are they a couple?"

Edward concentrated on the still distant figures. "No. Two males, and not particularly close friends."

That was good news. Not that two vampires would be a serious threat against the eight of us, even if they were foolish enough to start a fight; but if a confrontation did take place, bonded mates, driven by the need to protect each other, would fight much more fiercely than unattached individuals.

We gathered closer still as they reached us, standing shoulder to shoulder and facing the pair of nomads. They stopped a few yards from us, and we stood and looked each other over. Like most nomads, they appeared uncivilized compared to the Cullens, wearing dirty, torn and mismatched clothing. Both were barefoot. Their eyes, naturally, were crimson, and growing dark; they were a little thirsty. One of the males was big, almost as big as Emmett, and strongly built. The other was significantly smaller, but had a confident look about him that suggested he was better at defending himself than he appeared. The smaller one had thick, wiry hair which had been torn or burned off on one side of his head, leaving a patch of stubble and uneven tufts, giving him a slightly demented look. I'd been given some helpful information on vampire hair restoration by Alice, but I suspected our visitors were not interested in sharing beauty tips.

Predictably, they stiffened and fell into a defensive posture when their eyes fell on Jasper, standing calmly and with no sign of aggression, but bearing the visible marks of having survived thousands of attacks. Both males shifted somewhat to their right, away from where Jasper stood at one end of our line.

The smaller one spoke first. "So many of you!" His eyes moved along our line, searching out the leader. He focused on Emmett a moment, then faced Jasper. "Is there a mass hunt going on? But I don't smell any prey nearby. A fight?" His companion tensed.

"No, no hunt, and certainly no fight." They both turned in surprise to Carlisle. "We were just playing baseball."

The larger male huffed an incredulous laugh. "Baseball?"

"Yes. I'm Carlisle; this is my family." The pair looked at each other in mild surprise at the word _family,_ but they did not introduce themselves in turn. "Are you merely passing through?"

"That's our business," the small one snapped.

"Indeed, but you should be aware that the immediate area is protected."

"Is that right?" The smaller male's voice took on a mocking tone.

"It is. It would not be a prudent place to hunt."

Obviously they took this as a challenge rather than a friendly warning, but before Carlisle could explain further, things began to change.

I became aware of a slight disturbance within the family, some restless movement. Jasper, who had stood quietly with his hands behind his back, began to glance down our line, his manner suggesting Yellow Alert. Edward, catching his eye, moved slightly to place me just behind his left shoulder. Even Emmett's cheerfully confident manner was gone. He looked agitated, even - completely unheard of for Emmett - frightened. The others were stirring in an uneasy way I couldn't understand. And all the while, the nomads watched us, smiling.

It took me a minute, but I finally realized what was going on. The smaller one was gifted. His confidence was based on his ability to disarm his opponent, probably by causing fear, weakness, or confusion. I was glad to find my defensive training hadn't become rusty since the last time I'd used it. With a nearly effortless push, I threw my shield outward to cover my entire family.

They calmed instantly, and understanding of what had just occurred swept almost visibly through them. "Thank you," Carlisle murmured quietly, without looking in my direction.

The gifted male frowned, recognizing that his efforts had been thwarted somehow. "No," Edward said to him, answering his thoughts. "It's not going to work." The nomads' eyes went to him immediately, astonished. "And the town isn't protected only by us. Trust me, looking at this as a challenge would not be in your best interests. You should move on."

The smaller one smiled grimly, and I could see that he did, in fact, regard this situation as an irresistible challenge. Jasper tensed, reading the male's reaction, and clenched his hands in readiness. The nomad looked at his larger companion, jerking his head toward Edward. "That's the one," he said. "Take _him_ out, fast, and I've got the rest covered." Evidently he assumed that Edward's awareness of his thoughts meant Edward must also be the one protecting us from his gift. He didn't realize what a multi-talented group he was dealing with.

After that, things happened very fast. The big male stepped forward. Without realizing what I was doing, I also moved forward, directly in front of Edward. My shield seemed to grow denser, flex itself powerfully in response to my emotions, and my body reacted in much the same way. My feelings were so strong I could hardly understand them, but I saw the huge nomad heading directly for Edward, and I acted on instinct. Even as I took in Edward's gasp of surprise as I stepped in front of him, the nomad took another step forward. I crouched, bared my teeth, and released a snarl that lasted a good ten seconds and echoed off the surrounding hills. Even I recognized that my reaction was completely over the top; I'd never heard such a noise in my life.

The nomad froze where he stood. I stared him in the eyes, growling quietly but intensely, seeing the impact of my rage in his expression. _Just _try_ moving in his direction again, buddy, _my attitude clearly expressed. _Make my day._ I was no fighter, and I should have been afraid, but standing between him and Edward felt deeply satisfying. The rest of the family seemed to be immobile, alert but waiting.

The big male flashed a brief look down the row of Cullens, and immediately back to me. Then, still holding my gaze, he took a slow, cautious step back, then another, until he stood beside his companion in the place he'd started. The small nomad gave him a look of irritation, but seemed to be rethinking his strategy.

"This cannot end well for you," Carlisle said calmly. "Please consider just going your way."

The smaller nomad looked us over, gave the other a final glare, and with a hiss he turned and stalked away without another word. The larger male followed. I could feel a faint trembling from Edward, as if from muffled laughter. A moment later, seeing the visitors were really gone, I straightened and moved back to his side.

I realized that all eyes were on me. They didn't seem angry. In fact, I had the oddest impression that they were all about to laugh.

"Well," I said, horribly embarrassed by the attention, "that went better than last time, don't you think?"

Dawn was starting to break when we arrived back at the house. The family had barely stopped laughing the entire way home, and on returning, time had to be taken to recount the entire adventure to Jacob. Alice outlined the way I'd 'foiled' the gifted vampire with my shield, embellishing a little bit, in my opinion. Jacob found the rest of the story as hilarious as everyone else did. He especially liked Jasper's vivid description of the huge nomad slowly backing away from my impressive wrath. Edward laughed the hardest of all, but he also took the time to thank me for protecting him so ferociously.

"I'm never going to call her tame again," Emmett declared. "She might look harmless, but make a move at Edward, and she turns into one scary little hell-hound."

"Perhaps you would have made a good pirate after all," Carlisle suggested.

Emmett laughed at my expression. "Aw! I miss the blushing."

We changed out of our damp baseball clothes as the sun began to show itself, and when I returned to the living room, Nessie was just waking up. We promised her breakfast in the car, packed her bed and the baseball equipment back into the van and bolted it once more.

We arranged ourselves in our respective vehicles, Emmett in the lead at the wheel of the moving van. He was followed by Rosalie in her red convertible, Carlisle and Esme in Emmett's Jeep, Jacob driving my Ferrari with Nessie in the back seat holding a granola bar, Edward in his stupid, shiny Volvo, me trying out his Aston Martin for the first time, and Alice and Jasper in the yellow Porsche. Quite a display of automotive excellence.

We heard Emmett call out _Convoy, ho!_ This was answered by derisive laughs and groans, and we all headed out behind him, down our long private road and onto the highway. We would soon be separated as we each adopted our own speed and made stops as we liked, but we would find each other at the end of the journey. We drove east, directly into the rising sun, taking our home with us as we went.


End file.
